


Magic Flames

by Mischel



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Arthur Finds Out, Coda, Episode: s02e07 The Witchfinder, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Hiding, Idiots in Love, Instinctive Magic, M/M, Merlin helps her with magic, Merlin's Magic Revealed, Merlin's Scars Revealed, Merthur - Freeform, Merthur moments, Mind Talking, Morgana Finds Out about Merlin's magic, Morgana is a friend, Morgana ships it, Secrets, secretly in love, witchfinder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-17
Updated: 2016-05-24
Packaged: 2018-06-09 02:07:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6884917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mischel/pseuds/Mischel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Arthur didn't stop Aredian from starting the fire in time? What if Gaius was about to die in a few minutes? Is Merlin willing to let his mentor die? Of course not, but what if he loses control over his magic? What happens then? This story starts at the end of 2x07 The Witchfinder, but Gwen & Merlin haven't found the Belladonna flower yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Red and Gold

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you'll like the first chapter :) It's a short one, but the other chapters are at least 3K words long ;)

He was in a cage. They were bringing him here in a _cage_ , like some sort of animal. Even Uther, the man who made all this happen, had to turn around. He couldn't watch the death of his old friend, and yet he did nothing to stop it, even when he had the power to do so.

"Easy there! Show some respect!" Arthur yelled at Aredian. The man who said that Gaius was a sorcerer. But Gaius was the man who knew him since birth, he was like an uncle to him. He always took good care of him, how could he be a sorcerer?

Aredian paid little attention to what Arthur told him, he took Gaius by his arms and helped him up to the stake. He tied his hands around the high tree trunk in the middle and smiled when he realized what he had accomplished. Gaius was about to die. In flames. Brilliant.

"Arthur!" Someone called him. It was Gwen. "Arthur! You've got to stop this!" She told him hurriedly. Arthur looked at her, and then back at Gaius. He knew that he couldn't do anything. Uther had made his decision.

"Come on, Gwen, you know I can't." He replied. He didn't want to look at her, at her face and into her brown eyes. He couldn't see how disappointed she was. "My father has already passed the sentence, there's nothing I can do." Arthur said. He didn't want Gaius to die, but how could he stand against his father, the king?

"You can do the right thing, Arthur Pendragon!" She said and Arthur looked at her. She had used her scolding voice. "You can show some faith in a loyal friend or you can stand by and watch an innocent man die!"

"Guinevere-"

"You did it once before to my father!" She said and looked at him pleadingly. "Are you really willing to let it happen again?" He looked at her. "And you can stop looking at me like that, I know I'm only a servant." She looked down for a few seconds and then back into his eyes. "I thought you were a prince! So start behaving like one!"

Arthur looked back at Aredian. That man had already lit the torch for Gaius. Gwen was right, Gaius _was_ innocent. He had to be. It was all Aredian. _How come they trust a man they know only a few days over a man they've known their whole lives?_

Gaius looked away from the fire, his long white hair blowing in the wind. Aredian came closer to the stake with the fire prepared in his hand. He came closer and closer, lowered the torch to the straw and branches around Gaius. It was now or never.

"Wait!" Arthur yelled at him, but it was too late.

_Too late._

The straw was glowing with red and yellow flames and the fire was quickly growing, making its way towards the innocent Gaius. "Ohh!" Gaius moaned, looking at the flames with fear in eyes. The heat was still closer and closer to him.

"No!" Gwen cried out and started crying. Arthur took her hand, but she put both her hands to her mouth, crying loudly. "No!" She sobbed. Arthur hugged her, not caring about anyone who might see them.

Arthur made himself watch and looked into Gaius face for one last time. His mouth was open, and he was sweating through his white tunic. It was terrible. Arthur didn't want to, but he had tears in eyes. He knew the man his whole life, and Gwen was right. He could have stopped it.

Suddenly the flames disappeared and all people gasped in unison. Gwen pulled away from Arthur's chest and looked at Gaius. He looked just as confused as all other people around him. Uther came back when he didn't hear Gaius' expected screams and looked at the situation through the balcony.

"Sorcery!" He yelled, looking around. "He has an accomplice! Find him!" He ordered and soon the knights started looking around.

Aredian took his torch and started the fire again.

"No!" Arthur tried to stop him, but he didn't even have to, the flames disappeared again. Arthur quickly looked at Gaius. The old man was looking somewhere into the crowd of citizens. Arthur followed his gaze and found the person responsible.

It was... _Merlin?_

The boy's hands were clenched in fists and his face was desperate, concentrating. He was _crying_. Suddenly the windows in the castle shattered and the glass fell down into the courtyard. People started panicking, they ran in all directions, all of them wanting to get away and not wanting to be held by the knights as suspects.

Arthur took Gwen into his arms again, protecting her from the shards flying through the air. Wait, was Merlin alright? He was much closer to the windows! Arthur looked again at his servant, his friend and focused on his face. He gasped.

Not only was Merlin standing still like a statue, not caring about the glass or other people.

His eyes were...

_gold._


	2. Your Best Friend's Secrets

_No._ Arthur thought. _No, it couldn't be. Or could it? Merlin?... a traitor?_ His blue eyes were wide and for once in his life, Arthur had no idea what to do. So many questions, no answers. Did Merlin really have magic? Everything in Arthur screamed _no._ But all the evidence suggested otherwise. And if it was true, which apparently was, did that mean that Merlin was _the_ sorcerer? That magic user who caused all those weird incidents around the city that the girls saw? Was Aredian right about all of this right from the beginning? Was Gaius really innocent?

Arthur shook his head and closed his eyes for a few seconds. He didn't have time for this. They all didn't have time for this. Merlin had magic, and that was it. He was saving Gaius, and now they had to save Merlin before anyone sees him using magic.

Arthur looked around and found out that thankfully no one noticed Merlin was the one stopping the fire (repeatedly) and shattering the windows. Everywhere was chaos – people were screaming, running away from the courtyard, guards were getting closer and closer to the stake... it was just too much. _Too much._

Arthur had to decide _right now._

He pulled away from Gwen and took her hand. He looked into her brown teary eyes and said firmly, "trust me, Guinevere. Trust me." He didn't wait until she nodded, but he knew she did anyway.

He turned to Merlin and started running. It took only a few seconds before he stood right in front of his friend.

"Merlin!" He said loudly, but Merlin's eyes stayed focused on Gaius, his eyes red from the crying and still _gold._ Arthur heard Gwen gasp behind him.

He stepped closer to Merlin and took his hand. It was still clenched in tight fist, so Arthur unclenched it and entwined their fingers and squeezed, looking deep into Merlin's eyes. "Merlin!" He yelled again. This time Merlin snapped out of the dreamy state he was in. He looked at Arthur, his eyes widening with horror.

"Arthur-"

"Merlin we have to go, _now."_ Arthur said, never looking away from him. Merlin stared right back into Arthur's blue eyes, then he looked down at their hands and back at Arthur. He squeezed back.

"Alright." He whispered. He looked back at Gaius and his eyes widened again. Arthur and Gwen turned around to search for the old men, only there was nothing to search for. Gaius was _gone._

"No..." Merlin gasped. "No!"

"Merlin, we're going!" Arthur said, trying to calm Merlin down. "That's an order!"

And then suddenly they were running. It all took just a few seconds, but it seemed like hours. People were everywhere, guards were behind them on the courtyard, half of them looking for Gaius, the other half stopping suspicious people. Luckily, no one noticed them.

They ran towards the stables, Arthur leading the way. Only after they reached the horses did Arthur let go of Merlin's and Gwen's hands. He didn't want to lose them during their way there.

"Quickly, both of you take a horse!" He yelled at them. Merlin immediately (for once) followed Arthur's order and grabbed the ropes, untying the knot and mounting the horse.

"Where are we going?" Gwen asked Arthur, already taking some random horse as well.

"The only place we can. The woods." Arthur answered, already sitting on his own horse, waiting only for Gwen so they can finally escape form the chaos around them.

Arthur knew that at the gate would be some guards, even when almost all of them were already in the courtyard, or running through the city in a hectic search for the sorcerer or protecting their king. But they didn't have time to go back to the lower town and escape through there, the main gates were closer, so they had to risk it.

And they were lucky. The main gate was abandoned, and they made it out of Camelot, safe and sound. Both Merlin and Arthur sighed with relief, riding as fast as they could deeper into the woods.

It wasn't even five minutes since they entered the forest, when Merlin suddenly halted and dismounted the horse soon after.

"What the hell are you doing!" Arthur yelled at him, but immediately stopped himself when he saw, where was Merlin running.

There was a person lying on the ground, behind a rock. His robe was white and so was his long hair.

_Gaius._

It took only a few seconds and Merlin was already kneeling beside his father figure. "Gaius!" He said and shook his shoulders. He wasn't moving, it looked like he was just sleeping. "Come on, _please_!" Merlin begged, his cheeks already wet.

Arthur dismounted too and with Gwen walked over to Merlin. He was halfway there, when Gaius suddenly stirred and moved his head.

"Gaius?" Merlin gasped and smiled. He carefully wrapped his arms around the old man and gave him a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay." He whispered against his chest.

"Mer-Merlin-" Gaius coughed. "I-I can't b-breathe..."

"Oh, sorry," Merlin laughed a bit and finally let him go.

"What... what happened?" Gaius asked. He looked at Merlin and then above him. He saw trees. He didn't notice Gwen and Arthur. "Where are we?" Then he frowned at his ward. "Merlin, please tell me you didn't do anything stupid."

"I didn't," Merlin told him. "I don't know, I... I..." Merlin had no idea what to say. He knew it was probably, no, _definitely_ his magic that freed Gaius. How it happened was a mystery to him though. He knew he was angry, he knew that the flames around Gaius died out and he knew that it was him. He felt the magic inside of him, but then Gaius disappeared. He wished that Gaius was free, that he was somewhere else. Could it have been his magic that granted his wish?

"Oh, boy," Gaius groaned and attempted to sit. Merlin immediately took his hands to support him and Arthur with Gwen held his back and shoulders.

"Just be careful, Gaius." Gwen told him and smiled. Gaius looked at her with widened eyes and then at Arthur.

"It's okay, they know Gaius," Merlin quickly explained. "They _know_." Gaius just nodded and closed his eyes for a few seconds.

"Why... why are we in the woods?" He asked then.

"It was magic," Arthur said. "The fire stopped and windows shattered-

"The windows?" Merlin gasped.

"Yes, Merlin, the windows." Arthur looked at him sternly. He still wasn't sure what to think about all of this. "You just stood in the middle of all of it and people panicked. They started running while the glass was flying everywhere, I'm sure you've hurt a lot of people."

"I didn't want to." Merlin said quietly, looking into Arthur's eyes. He really didn't want to, he wasn't even aware of what he was doing, all he felt in that moment was anger, desperation and a huge wave of magic. But he trusted Arthur. He knew that it must have been him.

Arthur saw it in Merlin's eyes. He knew Merlin was sorry, but all he did was that he rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he added and turned to Gaius, ignoring Merlin who looked down and closed his eyes. "Then we took some horses and escaped, I'm sure they will come looking for me, but fortunately for you, I don't want to be found." Arthur said. "Not yet."

Gaius nodded and tried to stand up. Merlin immediately wanted to stop him.

"Gaius, don't-"

"We have to hurry, I can stand on my own." Gaius replied and in that moment he got dizzy and almost fell back into the soft grass.

"Gaius, you'll take Merlin's horse, he can run." Arthur ordered. Merlin gave him a look, but Arthur didn't see it. Instead he helped Gaius to get on the horse and then they set off again, as fast as they could with Merlin running beside them.

They had to take breaks because of Merlin, but after an hour of successful traveling and covering tracks, they found a cave. It was the safest place they've seen so far and so Arthur decided to hide there until they figured out something else or how to return to Camelot without Gaius ending up on the stake again. Merlin led Gaius into the cave and sat him down on the ground. It wasn't a big cave, but it was hidden behind the trees, so they could hide the horses there too.

After Gwen collected some twigs and gave them to Merlin, he put them in between him and Gaius and then suddenly stopped, looking at her.

"What is it?" Gwen asked.

"Nothing," he replied. "I just... I've never, I've never really..."

"You've never used your magic in front of anyone?" She finished the sentence instead of him.

"Well, I have in front of Gaius, but... I don't know. I-"

"You can trust me, Merlin." Gwen smiled at him and put her hand on his shoulder. "I won't tell anyone, I promise. You're still my friend."

"Thank you, Gwen." Merlin smiled at her. Then he looked at the twigs and reached out his hand. He muttered a few words in the language of the old religion and his eyes flashed gold. Gwen was so fascinated by the different, unusual color of Merlin's eyes that she didn't even notice the fire had really started.

Gaius was smiling at them.

Then Arthur returned and sat down beside Gwen. "The horses are safe, so are we." He informed them. "Now we need to figure out what to do."

"I don't think so," Merlin protested. Arthur looked at him disbelievingly.

"Excuse me?" He asked. "You're a servant Merlin, you _follow_ orders. _My_ orders." Arthur could see how much he hurt Merlin. He would have never said this in such a tone, only if he didn't really mean it, but now it was different. He wanted to trust Merlin, he just... _just_.

"Well, I'm sorry that I don't follow your orders, _sire,_ but when I took the job as your _manservant_ , I never could have imagined that your orders would be so _stupid_."

"Merlin!" Gaius hissed. He knew they were friends, but Merlin stepped too far.

Arthur's mouth was agape. "I should have _left_ you there! Perhaps you _are_ the sorcerer from the city!"

"Arthur!" Now it was Gwen who stepped in. "You aren't supposed to argue now, we have much more important things to do."

There was silence. Arthur was looking at Merlin and Merlin was looking at Arthur.

"Merlin," Gwen said then. "Why did you think that we shouldn't talk about our plan now."

"Thanks, Gwen," Merlin smiled at her and then looked at Gaius, whose eyes were almost closed. "I think Gaius should sleep. At least for a while."

Gaius's eyes fluttered open. "No, there's... there's no need, I'm not tired."

"Nonsense." Arthur said. "Gaius, get some rest and we'll go outside to take watch."

"I don't need to-"

"That's an order, Gaius." Arthur insisted. "You were almost burned alive two hours ago. You need to rest. Merlin, Gwen?"

"I'll stay with him," Gwen said and put another twig into the fire. She knew Arthur needed some time alone with Merlin to work things out. And so did Merlin.

"Very well." Arthur smiled at her and went outside.

"Good night, Gaius." Merlin said and turned around to follow his prince. Gaius wanted to say that it wasn't night and that he wasn't tired, but the moment he closed his eyes, he couldn't reopen them. Gwen chuckled slightly.

Merlin went outside and followed Arthur. The trees were around the cave so their hiding place wasn't visible from the outside. It was pure luck that Gwen found it here. It was perfect place for them to hide.

Merlin looked up at the sun and smiled when he saw a bird fly above his head. Everything here was so full of life. He missed this. The nature. When he lived in Ealdor, the forest was just outside his and his mother's house. He would go there every morning and collect some wood, and play with Will. When he moved to Camelot, he didn't realize that there wouldn't be so much nature. The only time he actually got out of Camelot into the woods was when Arthur wanted to go hunting or when he had to save the prince's neck.

When Merlin looked back down, Arthur was glaring at him. Merlin swallowed. "What?" He asked, hesitantly.

"Merlin," Arthur started. "I think it's time that you and I have _the_ talk."

"Uh oh, okay." Merlin smiled awkwardly and cleared his throat when Arthur wasn't smiling at all. Arthur led Merlin around the trees to a relatively small rock, and he sat behind it, gesturing for Merlin to do the same. Merlin sat on the other side, facing Arthur, so the rock was between them like a small table. They weren't far away from the cave, actually, they had the perfect view of the cave, the horses and everything, so they could still keep watch.

"So," Arthur started, but didn't finish. Where should he begin?

"So?" Merlin asked, waiting patiently.

"How long?" Arthur asked.

"How long what?

"How long have you practiced magic, you idiot." Arthur said and looked at Merlin. Merlin looked down and after a few seconds he looked right into Arthur's eyes.

"I was born with it." He said quietly.

"What? That's nonsense." Arthur said.

"No, it isn't, Arthur. I was born with my magic, it's part of who I am, I swear."

The intensity with which Merlin was looking into Arthur's eyes was indescribable. Arthur knew it was the truth. If at least a small part of what Arthur knew about Merlin was still true, if their whole friendship wasn't a lie from the very beginning, Arthur knew that he could trust those eyes. Nevertheless he asked.

"How can I trust you? Hm? How can I know you're telling the truth, Merlin, how can I be sure, tell me."

"I'm your friend." Merlin whispered with tears in eyes. "You know I am, that was never a lie."

Arthur was quiet and so was Merlin. They were just looking into each other's eyes, thinking about what to do next. Merlin didn't dare to speak up again and Arthur didn't know what to say at all.

"I..." Arthur said and broke the eye contact. "I don't know... anything. About you." He added.

"Arthur, everything I've ever told you that wasn't about my magic was true. I really didn't like you at the beginning, but later... well, I understood. I truly believe that one day, you will be a great king, much better than your father. I believe in you, Arthur." Merlin said. "I really, really don't want to lose your friendship and trust." He continued, and Arthur listened. "You don't even know how many times I've saved your life. And you, Arthur, you mean everything, I... I didn't want to lie to you, but I couldn't tell you about my magic either-"

"You want me to trust you when you obviously didn't trust me?" Arthur asked then, finally looking up at his friend.

"I'm sorry." Merlin apologized. "I wanted to tell you, I really did, but I was waiting for the right time."

"And when would that be?" Arthur said. "If I didn't find out today, when would you tell me?"

"I don't know." Merlin answered honestly. "I don't know."

Arthur rolled his eyes and looked down. "Alright." He said after a few minutes of thinking. "I'll try my best to trust you Merlin, to be around you and not to think about... your abilities."

A huge grin appeared on Merlin's face.

"But," Arthur held up a finger. "I need to know two things, only two things." Merlin nodded and Arthur took a deep breath. "Are you... are you the sorcerer who caused the incidents in the city?"

"No, well..." Merlin hesitated, but then he decided to tell him. "I didn't cause those incidents, I think no one did, but we have to find a proof for that. However, I'm the reason why Uther sent for Aredian."

"What?"

"Well, I was sitting there on a log where that woman was, and I didn't see her, and I saw the smoke and... and I thought that maybe I could have a little... fun, so I... I made that horse from the smoke." Merlin confessed, looking nervously up at Arthur.

Arthur rolled his eyes for at least the tenth time that day. "Now I believe it's still you." He laughed. "You're still unbelievably _stupid!_ "

"Hey!" Merlin laughed too. "What's the second thing you want to know?" He asked then.

"Do you have any more secrets?" Arthur asked. Merlin swallowed visibly. Arthur narrowed his eyes. "Well?"

"Um... there's a... a dragon. Under the castle. He's been helping me."

"What?!" Arthur almost stood up. "Merlin are you seriously so dumb? How could you have ever trusted a dragon? It's a dangerous, magical, _huge_ creature!"

"No, he's chained down there, in the cavern."

"Yeah, I know that, but how the hell can you trust him?" Arthur asked.

"I don't know, he just helps me, he's a friend. Almost." Merlin said.

"Okay, okay." Arthur took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. "I believe you, it's just... a lot to take in." Arthur rubbed his eyes. "Any more secrets, Merlin?" He asked again and looked over at his friend.

Merlin swallowed again, but didn't say anything.

"Well?" Arthur asked, waiting for his answer.

"There isn't any." Merlin lied. He knew he should tell him. He knew that now was the perfect time to tell the prince how does he feel about him. What has he felt for a long time. But he just couldn't say it out loud in front of him, he couldn't tell him that he's in love with him, how ridiculous was that? He couldn't bring himself to tell him the truth.

"Are you sure," Arthur eyed him suspiciously.

Merlin nodded, trying to look normal, like everything is okay, but he knew he was failing terribly and blushing. At least a bit. Arthur was looking at him, straight at him, at least half a minute, making Merlin look away nervously.

" _Mer_ lin?" He said again, a slight warning in his voice.

"Seriously, Arthur, no more secrets, I swear." Arthur slowly nodded. He didn't believe Merlin, he knew he was lying, but he let it go. For now.

They stood up and looked around. Everything was still quiet.

Merlin cleared his throat and Arthur looked at him. He was standing right in front of the prince with his hand reached out. Arthur looked at Merlin's smile and then at Merlin's hand in front of him. Then he slowly took off his glove and took Merlin's hand, squeezing tightly, looking into Merlin's blue eyes. Arthur didn't know whether it was the magic circling through Merlin's body or the fact that he's never shaken hands with him before, but the touch of his skin felt amazing, warm. It was _magical_.

Merlin smiled at him and Arthur smiled back.

And believe me when I say it was genuine.


	3. The Witch, Lady Morgana

The throne room was quiet. Cold and quiet and it was not the first time that Leon felt worried, standing in front of his king. The man could be very stubborn and not tolerant if it came to magic, and magic was what was this all about indeed.

"Has any of you seen the sorcerer who did that?" The king asked, his scar across his eye looking unusually scary.

"No, sire." One of the knights answered. There was five of them, the most trusted ones, standing in front of Uther.

"Maybe Gaius, the sorcerer, my lord." Some other knight spoke up. Uther turned to him and looked at him dangerously. The knight swallowed.

"I highly doubt that," Aredian said. Everyone looked at him. "He didn't use magic before, I'm afraid he was determined to pretend innocence until the very end."

"If he was a sorcerer." Morgana argued, her voice firm. "I knew Gaius since I came here, I don't believe he was a sorcerer all along, he's innocent. He's always only wanted to help me."

"And look where his help got him." Aredian turned to her. "He confessed, there's no doubt he has magic."

"Gaius," Uther said firmly and looked at Morgana. "Betrayed me. It was a hard decision to make, and you shall not criticize my orders, Morgana. I am your king." He said.

"Indeed it was a hard decision." Morgana ignored her guardian. "Gaius is your friend. He's been friend to all of us, and this is how you repay him?"

"Enough!" Uther yelled. "Does any of you know the whereabouts of my son?" He asked then. The knights were quiet. "Sir Leon?" Uther turned to his most trusted and skilled knight, besides Arthur.

What should Leon say now?

xoXOXox

_Another window shattered._

_All the knights were running across the courtyard toward Gaius. Leon was supposed to do the same, but he stopped running for a minute. The knights almost reached the stake, but not him. He looked around, at the chaos, feeling paralyzed. Overwhelmed._

_Then he saw it. He saw the prince, holding hands with someone. It was Gwen, the lady Morgana's maid. That wasn't that unusual, Leon saw them talking from time to time in the halls. But Arthur was talking to someone else. Who was it?_

_Leon began walking toward them, not caring about his orders anymore. Someone had to keep an eye on the crowned prince as well, right?_

_And then he saw the red neckerchief and panicked eyes. It was Merlin, Arthur's manservant. What were they three doing there? And why was the prince holding hands with his servant? Then Leon gasped. The gold in his eyes. Was it gold? It had to be, but it was gone in the next second that Merlin looked at his master._

_Magic? Could it have been magic? Should he report it to the king? It was his responsibility._

_But then Merlin's eyes widened and he yelled something. Leon didn't hear him over the panicked voices of the citizens, but he was pretty sure it was 'no' according to the shape of Merlin's mouth and the fear in his eyes._

_He looked at where Merlin was looking and he couldn't believe his eyes, just as all the knights. The physician was gone. Leon looked back, but Merlin, Guinevere and Arthur weren't there anymore._

_He saw them running toward the stables, still holding hands, but he didn't do anything. If the Prince was alright with all of this, who was he to question his decisions? But should he report it to Uther? Should he tell him what he saw? That the boy, he himself has chosen for his son as a manservant, was a sorcerer, a magic user?_

_Should he?_

xoXOXox

"Sir Leon?" Uther repeated his question. Leon looked at his king, opened his mouth and hesitated just for a second. "No, my lord." He said. "I haven't spotted prince Arthur, it was as if he had disappeared." He bowed his head briefly and then looked back up.

Aredian looked at him, making him feel a bit uneasy, but Uther nodded.

"He must have been kidnapped by whoever had saved Gaius." He said.

"Indeed my lord." Aredian agreed. "That is the only possible explanation." He said, looking down. Uther rolled his eyes.

"What are you suggesting, Aredian." He growled.

Aredian looked at Morgana. Morgana swallowed and after a few seconds looked down. He couldn't know about her, could he? "Maybe, the boy, my lord." Aredian said instead. "Merlin. Maybe we have been wrong right from the start and he was the magic user. I don't doubt that when Gaius was using magic, he was teaching his ward as well."

Uther nodded again.

"But I have to warn you, Uther." Aredian added. "Your kingdom is full of magic, I felt it as soon as I crossed the borders. I'm sure there's at least one more magic user hiding under the roof of this very castle."

Morgana's eyes widened.

"Alright." Uther said and looked at his knights. "Sir Leon, send a searching party for my son, and _find_ him. Alive." Leon nodded. "With the rest of the knights, find the sorcerer who's responsible for this. Find _Merlin._ "

"Yes, my lord." All the knights nodded and left the throne room. Morgana swallowed again. There was no way Aredian could have known that she had magic too. Merlin was the only one who knew. She was sure Gaius knew about it too, but he never wanted to admit it. Therefore, Merlin was the only one she could trust, but he wasn't there to protect her, not now. He himself was accused of using sorcery. But he couldn't have magic, could he?

Morgana looked up and almost gasped when she saw the dangerous eyes of the Witchfinder, looking right at her. She was afraid of the man. She was afraid to stay in the castle with him sleeping there too. But what could she possibly do?

xoXOXox

It was quiet. The night was dark and full of terrors, but Morgana wasn't afraid of that. She was afraid of Aredian, the Witchfinder. She was in her chambers, looking out of the window, into the woods. She wondered where Gwen was.

She knew she was supposed to be asleep. It wasn't even that late yet, but she wanted to go to sleep early today. She didn't want to think about the danger of Aredian being there in the same castle, and the only way to do that was to fall asleep.

Morgana sighed and closed her eyes. She was already getting a bit sleepy. She would have to get ready for bed without her best friend tonight. But that was alright. She wasn't like Arthur, she was able to dress herself without anyone's help. Unless it was a dress with lots of buttons on the back of course, she couldn't possibly do that alone.

She smiled slightly. Maybe magic could help her. But then she frowned immediately. She knew she shouldn't be afraid of it. The druid and Merlin both said it was a gift, not a curse. But she had no idea how to use it. She couldn't possibly try on her own, the last time it happened, she almost burned alive in her chambers. That was an accident, she knew. But nevertheless, it was _magic._ It was power.

She was worried about Gwen. And Arthur too. And of course Merlin and Gaius. Where were they? Merlin couldn't possibly have magic, right? He would tell her. And she hated Uther for letting Gaius die, but fortunately it didn't happen. That meant the sorcerer must have been good, not evil when he was just saving Gaius from certain and horrible death. She hated Uther, but right now, as long as he was convinced she didn't have magic, he was the only one who could protect her from Aredian.

What a wonderful situation she got herself into.

Suddenly a hand gripped her arm and turned her around.

She screamed.

xoXOXox

It was late afternoon when Gaius finally woke up. He was still in the cave, lying near the fire. He sat up and saw Gwen sitting on the other side of the fire. She smiled at him.

"Did you sleep well?" She asked. Gaius smiled wearily and nodded. He looked around. They were alone.

"Where is Merlin and the prince?" He asked.

"Oh, Arthur went to hunt something for dinner and Merlin's keeping watch just outside the cave." She answered.

Gaius nodded again and then suddenly said, "thank you." He smiled at her. She looked up at him confused, but smiling.

"What for?" She asked.

"For accepting him." Gaius said and looked outside. "And keeping his secret." He added.

"He's my friend, Gaius." She smiled. "Merlin's a good person, he has a good heart. I don't believe he's evil."

Gaius smiled, just as Merlin went into the cave, smiling from ear to ear. He was holding a rabbit and a squirrel in his hands, and right behind him was Arthur, with his sword bloody. He stopped and went back to clean the sword in the grass behind the cave and then he finally went in.

"Dinner," he smiled.

As they were eating, it was getting darker and darker. The Moon was shining high in the sky, so there weren't many stars you could see. Arthur went out in front of the cave to the horses, to keep the first watch, while Gwen and Gaius went to sleep.

Gwen fell asleep within five minutes, but Merlin couldn't. He was just lying on the hard ground, still thinking about the whole situation they were in. And about Arthur of course. I mean, he finally knew about Merlin's magic! And he wasn't even that angry anymore, what more could he possibly wish for? Oh, right. Arthur's _attention._ But there was no way Merlin could get it. That was just a wish, a dream that will never come true.

Suddenly Merlin wasn't that happy.

"I..." Gaius whispered, and Merlin turned to him. "still don't understand, how did you get me into the woods, Merlin." He said. Merlin smiled.

"I don't get it either, believe me." He whispered back, putting one hand under his head. He was lying on his back.

"It was..." Gaius started, then cleared his throat. "According to what I know about magic, and certain spells from the time before the Great Purge, it would seem you used a teleportation spell, Merlin."

"Really?" Merlin asked quietly.

"Yes, it requires great amount of magic, and of course skills. How did you manage to do that though, is a mystery to me."

"It's a mystery to me too, Gaius." Merlin answered. "Honestly, I have no idea what happened there. I just..." Merlin let out a sigh. "As soon as I saw the fire, I knew it was too late to do something. And... I didn't want you to die, then I must have lost my control somehow."

"It would seem so." Gaius said. "Did anyone see you do what you did?" He asked then.

"I hope not, I think it was only Arthur and Gwen. I mean, when I realized what I was doing, Arthur was already standing in front of me and people were running from the courtyard and then you disappeared." He whispered.

"You shouldn't have gotten yourself involved in this, Merlin." Gaius said after a while. "Look where we're now, running from Camelot."

Merlin leaned on an elbow and looked at Gaius. "If I hadn't used my magic, you would be dead, Gaius." He said. "I couldn't have let that happen."

"I know, my boy." Gaius sighed loudly. "I know."

After Gaius fell asleep, Merlin finally closed his eyes, but the calm didn't last long.

_Aaaaaah!_

A high-pitched shriek suddenly screamed in his head. Merlin opened his eyes immediately and sat up, looking around. Gaius' eyes were closed, Gwen was snoring quietly and outside he could see Arthur's shadow created by the Moon.

Was it really just in his head then? Did some druid need help just like Mordred a year ago? Or was he just dreaming?

Merlin lay back down, but he didn't close his eyes. He was listening, waiting for something to happen.

But nothing happened. And he fell asleep.

xoXOXox

Morgana stopped screaming and was looking with wide eyes at the man who was in front of her. _Aredian._ Oh no, no no no. How did he get into her chambers anyway?

"Lady Morgana." He greeted her and smiled at her. The smile was more horrifying than his whole ugly face.

"You cannot just take me like this, Aredian, I'm the king's ward." She said, trying to look like she wasn't afraid. But she knew she was. She was so scared. He couldn't have possibly discovered that she had magic, right? She hasn't even used it yet.

"That's why I'm taking you to Uther, my lady." He said. "Let's see how will he react when he finds out his beloved ward has magic."

Morgana tried to stay calm. "I don't have magic, Aredian. What you are accusing me of is untrue and rude. Uther would never let you burn me alive."

"Hm, let's see if that's true." He said and took her out of her chambers. Just before they closed the door, he smiled to himself and put his hand into his pocket. What was he hiding there?

As soon as they opened the door to the throne room and went in, Uther stood up, looking puzzled. "What is this?" He asked.

"My lord." He said and bowed. "I believe I have found your magic user."

"What?" Uther said. "Aredian, that is ridiculous, Morgana is my ward and I've protected her since she was a child, I would have noticed if she was involved in any kind of sorcery."

Morgana swallowed, the tears in her eyes becoming visible. She looked at Uther, pleadingly.

"Then what is this?" Aredian asked, holding up his hand. Uther looked at him and reached out his hand. Aredian went closer to him and gave him the object.

It was an amulet, with druid symbols on it, made of wood. It had a triskelion on the front, with a sentence written in the language of old religion. Morgana's eyes widened.

She knew this thing. The druid she met in the druid camp a few weeks ago gave it to her. It was an amulet that was supposed to never let her forget that magic is a gift, not a curse. He never told her what was written on it, he said that she would understand one day.

How did Aredian find it?

"It was in lady Morgana's chambers." Aredian said.

"How did you find it?" Uther asked.

"I didn't my lord. Her maid, Guinevere found it and gave it to me. She was afraid to ask lady Morgana herself, and then she disappeared." He said. But Morgana knew it must have been a lie. It was hidden in a little wooden box, on the bottom of her cupboard. Gwen never opened it, the only way Aredian could have found it, was that he searched through her things. But she couldn't possibly let Uther know that it was hers. He'd never forgive her for keeping a magical object.

"Morgana?" Uther asked, looking at her. "Do you know this?" He asked. Morgana looked at the object, Aredian's little smirk and then at Uther. She felt a tear rolling down her cheek. She shook her head.

"N-no, no I d-don't." she whispered. "It's not mine." She said a little more aloud. God, she was so afraid, she was completely alone in this.

Uther looked at her frightened expression. "I believe you." He said after a while. Morgana let out a sigh of relief. "Aredian, Morgana is not a magic user. Take her back to her chambers."

Aredian bowed a little. "Of course, my lord." He mumbled and took Morgana's forearm.

"And Aredian," Uther called one last time. Aredian turned to him. "Apologize to her." He nodded and then the doors closed behind them.

Once the doors closed, Aredian's grip on her arm tightened. Without a word he took her back to her chambers and then let go of her arm.

"Don't worry, lady Morgana." He said, looking into her frightened eyes. "I know you have magic, and I will find a way to make Uther see that. You can be sure of that."

Then he slammed the door shut, making Morgana yelp. As soon as he was finally gone, she lay in her bed and started crying. She didn't know what to do. She missed Gwen, she missed Merlin, hell she even missed Arthur. Merlin knew about her magic, she was sure he'd help her somehow. He helped her once before when he told her about the druids.

She didn't want to sleep, she couldn't even sleep. She was just lying there, in her beautiful green silk dress, sobbing like a little girl.

She felt lost.

xoXOXox

Merlin woke up not long after he fell asleep. It was still night, Gaius and Gwen were still asleep, and Arthur was still keeping the watch. With no chance to fall asleep again, he slowly stood up and went outside, looking for Arthur.

He smiled when he saw him, sitting on the rock where they talked just a few hours ago. He was looking around, silently playing with his sword. Merlin's smile widened. He looked so calm there, so in peace. It was almost a crime to go there and talk to him, but Merlin couldn't stop himself.

He slowly went to him and stopped right behind him. Then he sighed loudly. Arthur quickly turned to him, his eyes wide, expecting some danger, but then he relaxed and smiled a little.

Merlin laughed a bit. "I scared you." He said.

"You absolutely did not, Merlin." Arthur replied, looking annoyed again. That only made Merlin grin more.

"It certainly looked like I did though." He smiled.

"Shut up, Merlin." Arthur groaned, but laughed a little.

Merlin hesitated a bit, but then he sat on the rock, right next to Arthur, looking up at the night sky. The Moon was beautifully shining on them and the nature around. They could actually see as if it were day, but it was night. And the Moon and the few stars on the horizon made them both feel relaxed and happy.

"It's beautiful," Merlin breathed, still looking up at the sky.

"It is," Arthur smiled, looking up himself. Merlin looked at him and smiled too. Arthur's whole face and his hair was illuminated by the moonlight, making him look like an angel. Arthur looked down at him and Merlin quickly looked up at the sky again, blushing slightly

Arthur looked back up at the sky too.

Suddenly a shooting star appeared above their heads and Merlin laughed. "Quickly, make a wish!" Merlin nudged Arthur with his elbow. Arthur looked at him and rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Merlin, you don't actually believe this nonsense about shooting stars, do you?" He said, mocking him.

"Suit yourself." Merlin said and closed his eyes. He knew exactly what he wished for. He wanted Arthur to notice him. He wanted him to just _know._ He wanted him to be safe and he wanted him to be okay with how Merlin felt. Because what if he wouldn't be alright with it? What if he would be disgusted by Merlin?

Merlin hoped he would never have to experience it. Because seeing Arthur in front of him, looking into his eyes and saying that what Merlin feels was not alright, not normal... that would break him.

"What was your wish?" Arthur asked after a while. He noticed how Merlin's expression changed from happy to worried and sad. He wanted to know why.

Merlin opened his eyes and looked at his prince. "You know I'm not supposed to tell." He said. "The wish wouldn't come true if I told you." Merlin said, smiling.

"I can't believe you're my servant, Merlin." Arthur said. "How could I have survived this long when you're so _boring!"_ He laughed and punched Merlin's arm.

"Ow," Merlin said, standing up. "How do you think you survived, you had _me_ the whole time!" Merlin said. "Saving your sorry ass every day, and washing your stinky socks!"

Arthur laughed. "Hey! You shouldn't talk like that to your future king, Merlin. Especially when you're such an idiot." Arthur shook his head, still smiling.

"Dollophead." Merlin uttered.

"That's not a word." Arthur argued, standing up himself.

"Of course it is."

"Then describe _dollop head."_ Arthur challenged him.

"Two words?"

"Yeah."

"Hm... prince Arthur!" Merlin said and quickly turned around, running back to the cave, knowing Arthur would follow him. When he stopped and turned around, he smiled. It wasn't a long way to the cave, so he was still pretty close to Arthur.

"Get some rest, Merlin." Arthur told him, smiling. Merlin nodded and smiled, turning around.

Then he suddenly heard it. The loud _yelp_. He stopped and listened again. There was nothing, just silence. But now he was sure that he wasn't dreaming. Someone screamed and he heard it in his head. That person must have had magic.

"Merlin? What's wrong?" Arthur asked when Merlin stopped and wasn't moving.

Merlin ignored him and cocked his head to one side, listening more carefully. Then he realized it. He _knew_ the voice. He knew who screamed. But did she know someone could actually hear her?

He didn't care that he would practically tell her he had magic. He didn't care, he just had to let her know they were alright. She deserved to know.

He took a deep breath and then called her in his mind.

_Morgana?_

Nothing, there was nothing. Just silence. And then, when Merlin almost gave up, there was a quiet-

_M-Merlin?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what do you think so far? :)


	4. The Night Mission

Merlin was acting so strangely, what was wrong with him? "Merlin? Are you alright?" Arthur called again as he went closer to him. "What's that idiot doing again?" He mumbled to himself as he was approaching his friend. Once he was standing behind him and Merlin didn't react even to a pinch to his shoulder, Arthur got really worried. He circled him until he was right in front of him and saw that Merlin's eyes were closed.

"Merlin!" He hissed (he would yell, but it was still night and who knew what was around them in the woods) and grabbed his servant's shoulders.

"Morgana!" Merlin hurriedly said and stared right into Arthur's eyes. He breathed out and said it again, a bit more quietly. "Morgana."

"What are you talking about?" Arthur asked him. Merlin didn't make sense… as if he ever did.

"It was Morgana, something's happening to her in Camelot." Merlin said and Arthur finally let go of his shoulders, realizing he was holding them the whole time.

"How do you know?" He asked.

"Um…" Merlin scratched his chin, then his head. "Well, um…"

"Just say it you idiot, we don't have the whole night!"

"Okay, okay… but please don't get mad at her." Merlin said.

"What? Why would I?" Merlin didn't answer, he held up his finger and closed his eyes again. _Morgana?_ He called.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Merlin, what on Earth-"

"Shh!" Merlin silenced him and listened again. _Morgana?_

_Merlin? What's happening, how can you talk to me like this?_

_Morgana, this is going to sound ridiculous, but please, you must believe me._

_O-okay._

_Druids and all people who have magic and are strong enough, which you clearly are, can communicate like this in their minds, and-_

_Merlin, I know that. Remember how you sent me to the druid's camp? They told me. Mordred could talk to me like that, but how can you-_

_It's because I have magic too._

Silence. Then _, What?_

 _Please Morgana, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I really am, but you have to listen to me now._ When Morgana didn't reply, Merlin continued _. It was me, I freed Gaius. Now we're all hiding in the forests. Gwen and Arthur are here too._

_Are they alright?_

_Yes, we're all okay. Where are you?_

_In my chambers._

_Okay, and why did you scream? I heard you scream. Twice._

_You heard me?_

_Yes._

_Aredian told Uther I have magic._

_What? Are you alright? Were you in the prison cell down in dungeons? What happened? Did he-_

_I'm alright, Uther didn't believe him and made him take me back to my chambers, that's where I am now._

_Okay, can you get out?_

_What?_

_Do you want to come find us? Aredian will do whatever it takes to make Uther believe you're a witch, you know that, right?_

_Yeah, yes. … I want to get out of here._

_Great! But wait, Arthur's standing next to me, he's waiting and I think he's pissed off, do you want me to tell him I'm talking to you? Do you want me to tell him you have magic too? I don't want to lie to him, but if you don't want him to know yet, I can try to-_

_Does he know about your magic, Merlin?_

_Well, yes, he found out today, at the execution._

_And how did he react?_

_He's fine now, he doesn't mind._ She didn't answer _. Morgana?_

_Okay, tell him. Tell him I'm alright._

_I will. You try to find a way out. And Morgana?_

_Yes?_

_Be careful._

Arthur was becoming very impatient. It was only a matter of seconds before he intended to shake Merlin's shoulders and ask him what the hell was going on, but then Merlin suddenly opened his eyes and looked straight at Arthur. "Okay, Arthur, this is going to sound crazy, but you have to believe me, okay? It's really important and she and I both were afraid to tell you, so please don't get mad." Merlin said in one breath and had to stop to take a deep breath. Arthur was looking at him as if Merlin had not only magic, but also two heads, or something really disgusting on his face.

"Merlin," Arthur started very slowly, almost carefully, and Merlin went silent. "Please tell me you're not about to say that you and my sister are... in a relationship…"

"What?" Merlin said and immediately started laughing. "God, no. Arthur, no, of course not." He laughed, making Arthur look like a fool.

"Then what is it?" He asked. He really was impatient now. Merlin calmed down a bit and had to take a deep breath again.

"Okay, so… Morgana is not my girlfriend, she just… she has… magic." Merlin said and suddenly Arthur was silent. Very silent. Unusually silent, Merlin got worried. "Arthur?" He asked, but the prince didn't answer. "Earth to Arthur, Arthur?" Merlin tried again, but Arthur only took a step back from him, looking somewhere behind him.

"You…" He swallowed. "You knew?" He asked. Merlin looked down and then back at Arthur.

"Yes, but it was not my secret to tell." He said. "Morgana was afraid of magic, she was scared and she didn't know what was happening, I had to tell her." He tried to explain. Arthur blinked. "Are you alright?" Merlin asked, taking a step forward. Arthur didn't move.

"And did… did she know about… you?" Arthur finally looked at Merlin. "I mean, _you_ you?"

"No," Merlin suddenly looked ashamed. "Not until now." He looked down. "She wasn't the only one who was scared." Suddenly there was a hand on Merlin's shoulder and he looked up. Arthur was looking at him, still in shock, but seemingly okay. "Are you mad?" Merlin dared to ask. Arthur sighed.

"No," he finally answered. "If she didn't want me to know, then it was right that you didn't tell me." He smiled, barely, but smiled. Merlin smiled back and Arthur wanted to take his hand back down from Merlin's shoulder, but suddenly Merlin hugged him. "Merlin." Arthur said, a warning in his voice. Merlin was still wrapped around him and Arthur's hands were in the air, desperately trying _not_ to touch his servant. "Merlin, what are you doing?" He asked, and tried to shake Merlin off of him.

Merlin didn't let go, but he looked up. "I... I thought we were having a moment?" He said. Arthur looked at him as if he couldn't believe his own ears.

"No!" He yelled. He sounded very frustrated.

"Um, sorry..." Merlin smiled nervously and let go of Arthur. Arthur growled.

"Why did I ever agree to have you as a servant." He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, sighing loudly.

"Just for the record, you didn't agree, your father wanted me to be your servant because I saved your life and he thought it was some kind of reward or something, but clearly he was absolutely wrong because the state of your chambers sometimes-"

" _Mer_ lin." Arthur said loudly. Merlin stopped talking.

"Yes, sire?" Merlin smiled innocently and Arthur leaned closer to him, making Merlin blush for some reason.

"Shut up." He said, looking at Merlin the whole time. Merlin smiled. "And don't smile like an idiot, I know it suits you perfectly, but please don't. Not in my presence." He added, making Merlin roll his eyes.

_Merlin? Are you still there?_

Arthur wanted to go back to the rock to keep watch again, but Merlin stopped him by grabbing his wrist. "Wait," he said.

"What?" Arthur asked

"Morgana's talking again. In my head." Merlin answered and closed his eyes, still holding Arthur's hand.

 _Yes._ Merlin answered.

 _Thank God, I thought you wouldn't hear me._ Morgana said, sighing with relief.

 _What's wrong?_ Merlin asked then.

_The door is locked, it must have been Aredian, I can't get out of my chambers._

_Do you think there are guards in front of the door?_

_I don't think so, anything Aredian would do to me is against what Uther said. He wouldn't dare to do anything but lock my door._

_Alright, can you use magic?_

_What? No, I've never... I don't know... How?_

_Morgana, it's alright. If you're not sure, I'm right here and I can guide you through it until you get to the woods. If the door is locked, I can teach you a simple spell that should unlock the door. Are you ready?_

_Yes._

_Okay, the spell is_ Tospringe.

_Tospringe? Just like that? Nothing else?_

Merlin laughed out loud, making Arthur look at him suspiciously.

 _Yes, there's nothing hard about it. Just reach your hand to the door and whisper_ Tospringe. _Can you do that?_

_I think so... I hope so. Okay, I'll do it now._

Merlin waited a few seconds and then he asked. _Did you do it?_

_No, I can't do it Merlin, it's too hard._

_It's okay, just try it one more time, I'm sure you'll succeed. I had to try many spells many times before I was able to do them, it's nothing unusual._

_Okay. I'll try again._ Morgana answered. Her voice trembled a bit, but Merlin knew she was strong.

 _And now?_ Merlin asked after a while.

_I did it, Merlin I did it! It's open, and no one's in front of the door!_

_Great! Be careful when you sneak out of Camelot and-_

_It's not my first time, you know?_

_Alright, just when you're out of there, head to the East to the Forest of Ascetir, that's where we're hiding. But do not cross the mountains, we found a cave much nearer to Camelot. If you're not sure where to go, just call me again, I doubt I'll fall asleep. And even if I did, I'm sure you'd wake me up anyway._

Merlin laughed again and he heard Morgana laugh too.

_Thank you, Merlin._

_That's what friends are for._

Then she was gone and Merlin finally opened his eyes. Arthur wasn't in front of him. "Arthur?" He asked, but no one answered.

"Yes?" Arthur said loudly, just behind Merlin's back. Merlin jumped and almost fell to the ground if Arthur didn't catch him. He blushed again and took a step back from Arthur, who was grinning. "Now I scared you." He laughed. He just had to scare Merlin after Merlin scared him. Not that he would admit it out loud of course.

"Prat." Merlin mumbled, but smiled.

"What did Morgana say?" Arthur asked then.

"She's running away from Camelot to find us. I told her where we are." Merlin said.

"What? She's running away too?"

"Yes, it's much safer for her here than in Camelot where's Aredian, he already knows she has magic and he won't stop until she, I and Gaius are all dead." Merlin answered, looking at Arthur.

Arthur nodded and then finally went back to the rock, sitting down and keeping the watch again. Merlin went there too and sat next to him. They were both watching the stars in silence.

xoXOXox

It was about two hours later that Arthur heard someone moving through the bushes on the way to their cave. He was supposed to be asleep and let Merlin keep the watch, but the boy was asleep with his head leaning against Arthur's shoulder, and the prince didn't want to wake him up. Now on the other hand, he had to because it might have been Morgana in the woods. And it might have been not. That's why he had to go and make sure.

"Merlin," he whispered and shrugged with the shoulder Merlin was leaning against. Merlin mumbled something but didn't wake up. "Merlin!" Arthur hissed into his servant's ear. "You idiot, wake up, will you!?" He said and Merlin slowly opened his one eye, looking around. As soon as he noticed he was sleeping _on Arthur's shoulder_ , he immediately stood up and took a few steps back, mumbling sorry. Then he wiped his mouth with his sleeve and rubbed his eyes.

Arthur just rolled his eyes and stood up too. "There's someone in the woods, I need you to make sure it's Morgana." He said, pointing with his sword to the bushes.

Merlin looked at him as if he was out of his mind. "What?" He hissed at him. "There's no way I'm going there, what if it's a bandit? Or a knight?" Merlin looked so confused and scared with his eyes wide open that it was starting to look funny. Arthur didn't laugh though.

"No, you bloody buffoon, speak to her in your mind!" Arthur said, looking _very_ irritated.

Merlin's mouth made a perfect shape of the letter 'o' as he looked at Arthur and understood what he meant. "Oh," Merlin said and laughed quietly and nervously. "Of course, what else." Then he finally closed his eyes, still embarrassed.

_Morgana, there's someone near our cave, is it you?_

_Yes, it's me Merlin._ Morgana answered and Merlin nodded at Arthur, who then put his sword back into the sheath and went slowly toward the bushes. In less than a few seconds he saw long black hair in a green silk hood.

"Morgana!" He called her name and she smiled when she saw him.

"Arthur, finally!" She smiled even more and stepped out of the bushes, closer to Arthur and Merlin. "Merlin," she smiled. "Thank you, it was so strange to talk to you in my head." She said and Merlin laughed.

"I know, but it's useful." He said and Morgana nodded. They led her back to the cave and as soon as they woke Gwen up, the two girls hugged, laughing.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" Gwen smiled, holding her friend close to her.

"Me too, I was afraid something happened to you after you disappeared." Morgana said, finally letting go of her maid and smiling. "But there's something I have to tell you Gwen." She said then.

"What is it?" Gwen asked.

"I... I have magic." Morgana finally said, looking down. "Like Merlin, we both have magic." She admitted. She was afraid that Gwen wouldn't take it that well as Arthur did. She wasn't even sure if Arthur took the news well, he didn't say anything. But in the next second Morgana found herself in another hug from Gwen.

"It doesn't matter, I don't care." Gwen said. "As long as you're alright, that's why we have to get rid of Aredian somehow, otherwise we can never return to Camelot."

"Gwen is right." Gaius said, who woke up right after Gwen. "We have to do something about this."

"But what should we do?" Morgana asked, looking at everyone around her.

They all fell silent. Then Merlin looked up. "If Uther thinks Aredian lied, he would let Gaius go, we would all be able to return home." He said.

"But how do you want to make Uther believe Aredian is a liar?" Gwen asked.

"We have to make sure that he believes it, we have only one chance to prove my father wrong." Arthur said, folding his hands on his chest. "Merlin told me he wasn't the sorcerer who's in the city and I believe him." Merlin smiled at Arthur and Arthur looked at him. Then he looked back at his friends. "Gaius and Morgana aren't the sorcerer either, so maybe there's no sorcerer." He mused.

"Maybe." Gaius said.

"Do you think Aredian would be able to make this all up?" Morgana asked, looking at Arthur.

"I don't trust that man, it's possible." Arthur said.

"He's paid to catch sorcerers, maybe he doesn't care whether someone is guilty or not." Merlin said, his fingers on his chin.

"Aredian is a powerful man," Gaius said and stood up, he was sitting until then. "I knew him before and he hasn't changed one bit. He made me confess even when I knew I didn't do anything wrong. He's able to do anything to make Uther kill the people he thinks have magic. Such as I, Merlin and Morgana. I don't doubt he experiments with magic himself when he has no other choice."

"All he cares about is confession." Merlin said.

"Excellent, so now we just have to find out how he did it and find a proof." Arthur said. "Then we can go to my father and make him believe we're right about Aredian."

"We have to search Aredian's chambers, there's no other choice." Merlin said then, looking at Arthur. Arthur looked at him and nodded.

"We have to go at night, he should be asleep." He agreed. Then he looked at Morgana, Gwen and Gaius. "Alright, that's the plan. I and Merlin go back to Camelot to search through Aredian's things, and hopefully we can find something useful." He pointed at Gaius and the girls. "Morgana, you, Gwen and Gaius stay here." He looked at Merlin. "Merlin, you can communicate with Morgana, so we can talk with her while we're in Camelot. Let's go."

He turned toward the entrance of the cave. "Arthur, wait." Gwen stopped him. "What if someone comes here? The patrol?" She asked.

Arthur looked at her. She was right, he was leaving two women and an old man behind. They were defenceless. Then he looked at Morgana. "It's alright," he told Gwen. "The patrol is probably sleeping, and if someone comes," he looked at Morgana again. "Just scream, Merlin should hear you and we'll come back. And you can try to use magic." He added. "I'm sorry, but we have to risk this otherwise we'd never return to Camelot."

Then he patted Merlin's back, urging him to go faster. And then they were gone.

xoXOXox

It took them another two hours to get back to Camelot, but it was still night and still dark and they had at least three more hours until the Sun would rise. They didn't take horses, someone would notice them and they would have to leave them in the woods.

After they finally reached the castle and went in, they found Aredian's chambers and Merlin slowly opened the door. They were right. The man was sleeping in his bed, unaware of the prince and his manservant. They were lucky.

Then they started searching through his things, making sure to not do any sound that might wake him up. Arthur looked under the bed and didn't find anything. Merlin opened the closet, but found nothing but clothes. Arthur then checked his things on the table and Merlin found a little cupboard, close to Aredian's bed. He tried to open it, but it was locked.

He went to Arthur and touched his shoulder. Arthur turned around. "What?"

"I think I found something." Merlin said and led him back to the cupboard. He reached out his hand and mumbled quietly, " _Tospringe._ " In the next second the cupboard opened and he smiled. He looked at Arthur who was right behind him. Arthur was looking at Merlin the whole time, fascinated by the change of Merlin's eyes. The gold looked so unnatural, and yet so beautiful and powerful. Merlin blushed and as he turned back to the cupboard in front of him, Arthur smiled slightly.

He didn't know what was wrong with him, or what was happening, but lately, he found himself more fond of Merlin than ever before. Or it's always been there and he just wasn't paying attention and ignored it? It always made him somehow satisfied when Merlin blushed because of him. It was this strange feeling that Arthur couldn't understand, only describe. The only thing he knew was that he was glad he knew about Merlin's magic. It made Merlin more open to him and honest and it made their friendship stronger.

"What do you think are these?" Merlin asked suddenly and Arthur blinked. Merlin had opened the cupboard already and found a strange white, almost light pink petals. He was holding them in his palm in front of Arthur's face and Arthur reached his hand and touched one of them. It was a completely normal petal.

"I don't know," he whispered back and looked into Merlin's blue eyes. Why did it make him feel so relaxed when he looked there? "It looks like normal petals." He said.

"I know, but it's strange, why would he have petals in here? In a locked cupboard?"

Arthur chuckled. "Maybe he has a secret petals fetish." Arthur said. Merlin punched him in the shoulder slightly, snickering under his breath.

"Shut up," he said, but they were both grinning like two idiots. "We'll take them to Gaius' quarters, he has so many books that at least one of them has to be about flowers." Merlin said then. Arthur nodded.

Then Merlin looked around and went to Aredian. He looked at his face and reached out his hand, mumbling something magical.

"What are you doing?" Arthur asked.

"Shh," Merlin looked at him. "Just making sure our plan is worth all this. We have to be one hundred percent sure about this." Then he went back to the cupboard and locked it. He reached his hand to the lock and did the same as he did to Aredian. " _Hlyste min nexte bebod._ " He looked back at Arthur and nodded. They were ready to leave.

It wasn't a problem to get into Gaius' chambers. And once Merlin closed the door behind them and smiled at Arthur, they went straight to Gaius' library. Arthur had no idea how was Merlin able to do that, but living with the physician had an effect on him. He knew exactly where to look for the right book, as if Gaius' categorisation actually made sense to him. Then he put it on the table.

"Now we just have to find the right flower." He said and handed Arthur another book. Arthur looked at the unbelievably thick book and then back at Merlin to find out if he was serious. "What?" Merlin asked. Arthur sighed and took the book from Merlin, accidentally brushing his fingers against Merlin's hand. Merlin didn't seem to notice or he did a really great job at hiding it because when Arthur looked at him, he was already paying attention only to the book.

They searched for twenty minutes, then Arthur sighed loudly and gave up. "This is hopeless, Merlin, we don't even know if this flower means anything." He said.

"It's all we've got." Merlin answered and kept looking. And that was when he finally found it. "Look!" He exclaimed quietly. "I found it."

Arthur looked at the page of the book. There was a picture of petals that looked exactly the same as the ones Merlin put on the table in front of them. "Belladonna?" Arthur asked.

"Yes," Merlin smiled and read out loud. "Under certain conditions, a tincture of the flower can produce hallucinations." He said.

"So?" Arthur asked, looking over Merlin's shoulder.

"Aredian's witnesses!" Merlin looked at Arthur. He didn't even care they were so close and that Arthur didn't step back again, all he could think about now was that they finally had proof Gaius was innocent. "It was not magic they were seeing, it was visions!"

"That actually makes sense!" Arthur said.

"But he's too clever to have given them the tincture directly, he had to have someone else." Merlin said. They both were silent. "I should talk to Morgana, maybe she noticed something about Aredian." He looked at Arthur and Arthur nodded. Merlin closed his eyes.

It was weird seeing Merlin like this, really. His eyes were closed and it looked like he was sleeping, but Arthur knew he was talking to Morgana. But it was just in their heads, he couldn't hear anything. Then Arthur realized he was still really close to Merlin. But what surprised him was that he didn't even mind. He actually liked it... a bit. It was a strange feeling, but he didn't want to think much about it, not yet. They had to get back with the proof and find the person who was helping Aredian.

But then curiosity overtook him and he looked even closer at Merlin's face. His eyes weren't moving under his eyelids, and his lips weren't moving either. Arthur raised his hand carefully and waved it right in front of Merlin's eyes. Merlin's didn't respond so he did it again, smiling playfully.

Then Merlin's started laughing and opened his eyes. "I can still hear you, you know? I know what you're doing." He giggled. Arthur rolled his eyes and blushed a bit.

"Shut up, Merlin." He said, but smiled at his servant. Merlin smiled too, but more at Arthur's blush than at his smile. Then he closed his eyes again and continued his conversation with Morgana.

xoXOXox

Morgana was sitting next to Gwen and Gaius in the cave. Gwen was almost asleep. They moved deeper into the cave so they could let their fire burn without worrying too much. They left the horses outside, hidden behind the trees. If they took them into the cave, their sound could make an echo outside and it would be louder.

_Morgana?_

Morgana gasped. Gwen looked at her, yawning. "What's wrong?" She asked. Morgana smiled at her.

"Nothing, Merlin just spoke in my mind, that's all." She answered.

"What does he want?" She asked then.

"I don't know, wait." Morgana said and closed her eyes. She was so not getting used to this. _Yes, Merlin?_

_Great, you're here. So, we found a Belladonna flower petals in Aredian's chambers and according to Gaius' books, its tincture can produce hallucinations. So Aredian's witnesses saw visions, not magic. We just don't know who could have given it to them._

_It had to be someone who knew all those three witnesses._ Morgana answered. _Wait, I'll tell Gwen._ "Gwen, they found a Belladonna flower in Aredian's chambers. It causes hallucinations, but we don't know who gave it to Aredian's witnesses." She said.

"Belladonna?" Gwen asked.

"Yes." _Merlin, we have to find out what do his witnesses have in common. Is Arthur there too?_

_Yes he is, he's waving his hand in front of my face. He thinks I don't know what he's doing._

Morgana laughed a bit. "Gwen, what do they have in common?" She asked.

"They were all women." Gaius said, joining the conversation.

 _Merlin, they were all women._ Morgana said in her mind.

_That doesn't tell us anything._

"That doesn't tell us anything." Morgana repeated out loud.

"Yes, it does." Gwen said and looked at Morgana. "What's the one thing only woman would buy?" She asked. "Things that make them beautiful!"


	5. How To Make You Blush

The prince and young sorcerer were walking through the streets of Camelot, hiding in the shadows and slowly making their way to the man Gwen told them about. She was right about this. The only thing the girls had in common was that they all probably bought something that made them beautiful, and Gwen knew just the right place. If this whole plan failed, they had nothing else to save Gaius. It just _had_ to work.

It was still night, the Moon was shining in the sky, and Merlin with Arthur just left Gaius' quarters twenty minutes ago. They made sure no one followed them and once they were out of the castle, they did their best to avoid any guards. The whole city was still full of them. Uther wanted to catch this sorcerer no matter what.

"Do you think this will work?" Merlin asked, whispering. Arthur didn't turn to him, he was checking if the next street was safe for them. They were hiding behind a corner of one house, in the shadows.

"It has to." He answered. "Now come on, it's barely five minutes from here." He said. Merlin nodded and went after Arthur, when suddenly the warning bells started ringing and Arthur quickly pushed him back into the shadows.

"What's happening?" Merlin asked.

"Do I look like I know?!" Arthur hissed. Three guards ran across the street, making their way to the citadel. Then another two guards. The bells kept ringing.

"They must have found out Morgana's missing." Merlin whispered.

"It's possible." Arthur said, sighing. "We have to risk it and run across the street." He said then.

"Are you kidding, they'll see us!" Merlin hissed.

"Maybe, but now is the right time. Most of the guards are running towards the castle to find out what's wrong, we have time until then. If we don't make it, the streets will be full of them, they'll be on every corner and then we won't stand a chance." Arthur said and looked at Merlin. "Trust me." He looked into his eyes and Merlin looked back.

Then he nodded. "I do." He whispered.

Arthur nodded too and then looked back on the other side of the street. "Do you see that straw wagon over there?" Arthur asked, carefully pointing to the other side of the street. There was a straw wagon, right behind the corner, so maybe they could hide behind it and then head to the next street.

Merlin nodded. "Yeah, we can hide there." He said.

"Exactly." Arthur answered. "Now, you go first, I've got your back, okay?" He looked at Merlin. The warlock hesitated a bit, but then he nodded.

"Okay," he whispered. Arthur looked at the street again. There was no one. Not yet. He looked to the right, and then to the left.

"Now!" He said and Merlin ran. He ran as fast as he could, and Arthur went right behind him, looking around them. They were lucky, no one noticed them. They made it behind the wagon safe and sound. "One down, two more streets to go." He said.

"We should go now, the knights can be here any minute." The servant said and looked from behind the wagon at the next street.

"Right." Arthur nodded and looked too. He didn't see anyone. Merlin looked down at him, and after Arthur nodded again, he slowly went from behind the wagon into the shadows near the wall of one house. Arthur silently followed him.

It wasn't even two minutes after that that they heard the guards and the dogs. Uther must have sent another searching party. First Arthur, together with two servants and a sorcerer who was sentenced to death, and then his ward. The king must have been worried about them. And Aredian was still in the castle, convincing Uther about new and new sorcerers in the city.

It wasn't really a good idea to go back into Camelot now with all the chaos around them, even at night. But they had no other choice.

Merlin and Arthur were hiding behind a few barrels, just outside the house of that man Gwen told them about. He was a seller of all kinds of things for women. Gwen went to his shop sometimes, and Aredian's witnesses must have been there in this past week, too.

They were just outside his house and they couldn't go inside because they heard the guards just around the corner. And they were coming closer and closer, they had to stay hidden.

"We have to go inside the house!" Merlin told Arthur.

"We can't, they'll see us." Arthur answered, breathing heavily.

"We don't know that!" Merlin said. "But if we stay here, they're going to search it here and they'll see us for sure." He was right, Arthur knew that, but what if the man was sleeping and wouldn't open the door?

"Damn Merlin, alright!" Arthur said and Merlin immediately ran to the house. Arthur was behind him in the next second and they knocked on the door.

The door opened.

Both Merlin and Arthur sighed with relief and looked at the man who opened the door for them. He opened his mouth, recognizing Arthur's face, but Arthur raised his hand to silence him and quickly went in, closing the door behind Merlin.

Once they were inside, they both sighed again and smiled. They made it, and they didn't get caught. They looked at the man, who was clearly very confused. He was mostly bald, the only hair he had was above his ears and around the back of his head.

"My lord," he bowed. "Did I do something wrong?" He asked then, looking at Merlin, then back at the prince.

"Yes, it's possible that you did." Arthur answered and the man's eyes widened.

"Do you sell the tincture of Belladonna?" Merlin asked. The man looked puzzled. "Please, it's important."

The seller nodded and went farther into the house. "Well, I think I've got some somewhere." He said as Arthur and Merlin followed him. "But what you'd be wanting with eye drops in the middle of the night, I really don't want to know." He added under his breath.

"Eye drops?" Arthur asked. The man looked at him and nodded again.

"Yes, women use them to make their eyes more beautiful."

"Where did you get this?" Merlin asked, holding the eye drops in front of him.

"Well, my usual suppliers." The man answered.

"Are you sure you didn't get it from someone else?" Merlin asked again. They had to be right about this, they _needed_ to be right about this. The man had to be lying.

"Of course I'm sure." He said. "Now if it's all the same to you, I'd like to get some sleep." He took a step back and bowed in front of Arthur.

"It was Aredian who gave you the Belladonna, wasn't it?" Arthur asked, stopping the man with his hand.

"I- I don't know what you're talking about." He tried to lie and get away, but Arthur grabbed his arm.

"Tell me the truth, that's an order." Arthur told him. "I can make sure no harm will come to you after this is all over, but you need to tell us the truth, right now." He said.

The man got scared. "I- I-"

"Gaius was about to get executed, you know that right?" Merlin said, and lowered his voice in the middle of the sentence as he heard the guards and dogs outside.

"That- that has nothing to do with me!" The seller said in his defense.

"That has everything to do with you!" Merlin said.

"I- I don't understand-"

"Aredian's witnesses saw visions." Arthur told him. "Visions produced by the Belladonna in your eye drops."

"If we can prove this, we have a chance of saving Gaius." Merlin added.

Finally he started talking. He looked down and whispered hesitantly. "He... he forced me to sell it." He looked at the prince in front of him. "He said he'd kill me if I said anything to anyone."

"So it was Aredian?"Arthur asked one more time to be absolutely sure.

"Yes. It was him." The man answered.

"Thank you." Arthur nodded and squeezed his shoulder. "Tomorrow before noon, we're going to have an audience with my father, and we are going to prove Gaius is innocent. And you're going to help us." He said.

"Yes, my lord."

"And don't worry, we'll make sure Aredian can't get to you." The prince assured him. "Now get some sleep, and prepare for the audience." He said and nodded at Merlin. They were done here.

"Thank you." Merlin said to the man and then he followed Arthur.

They went to the door and Arthur peeked outside. "I don't see any guards." He told Merlin, who was right next to him, looking at Arthur.

"Do you think it's safe if we go now?" He asked.

"I don't know, but we have to try. You slept at least three hours tonight, I haven't slept at all." Arthur said. "I'd like to have at least two hours of sleep, so we should hurry up." He said.

"Then go." Merlin said. Arthur looked at him and then he finally opened the door and carefully went outside, immediately hiding behind the barrels. Merlin followed him and in the next second they were both behind the barrels, in the shadows again.

There really weren't any guards, at least Arthur didn't see any. So he patted Merlin's back, urging him to move toward the gate in the Lower Town.

In the next ten minutes, they finally made it out of the Lower Town and out of Camelot. They ran toward the forest, and only after they were hidden among trees, they stopped and sighed.

Merlin leaned against one tree and started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Arthur asked.

"I don't know!" Merlin laughed. "We made it, and Gaius is going to be alright, and... I'm just... happy." He smiled and looked at Arthur. Arthur smiled too and nodded.

"You're right." He said. "I can't wait to sleep in my bed again."

"That's the only thing you care about?" Merlin asked. "Really? You didn't even sleep out there yet!"

"But I will, tonight." Arthur answered. "And come on, we have to go if I want to sleep."

"Yeah, I can't wait to sleep either." Merlin smiled as they began walking.

"Who said you'd be sleeping, idiot. You're gonna keep watch until we wake up." Arthur said and grinned as he saw Merlin's suffering expression.

"Tell me again, why do I have to listen to you and your stupid orders?" Merlin whined.

"Because I'm your prince, and you don't listen to me anyway."

"Don't worry, that's _mutual_." Merlin commented and grinned at the prince, who rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, Merlin."

xoXOXox

After half an hour of walking and silence and avoiding the knights who were searching for Morgana even in the forest, Arthur couldn't help but ask one thing. He knew it was a bit embarrassing and that he probably shouldn't ask, but his feelings for Merlin were growing stronger every second he spent just looking at him. So he really couldn't help it. Plus he remembered how Merlin didn't want to tell him his last secret. When he asked him if he had any more secrets, the warlock was strangely quiet and then he turned red and lied. Arthur knew that.

And so he had to ask. "Merlin?"

"Huh?" Merlin answered, not even stopping. They still had to make it back to the cave and get some sleep. At least they contacted Morgana and told her they were on their way, and about the audience of course.

"Why do you always blush when I'm near you or watching you?" Arthur asked suddenly, making Merlin stop and... blush.

"I don't." Merlin cleared his throat and started walking again, a bit faster. Arthur ran to him so they were walking right next to each other.

"Yes, you do." Arthur smiled. "Don't lie to me, I want to know." He said.

"Well, I don't care you want to know." Merlin answered, looking away from the prince.

" _Mer_ lin." Arthur warned. "I'm still the leader here okay, just tell me."

Merlin sighed, but kept walking. "I don't know." He lied. "I just do, everybody blushes."

"That's not an answer." Arthur said.

"Well, then you're out of luck, it's good enough answer to me." Merlin replied and sped up again.

"Alright," Arthur said. "Suit yourself. But I know you're hiding something more."

"Is that so, huh?" Merlin chuckled.

"Yes it is, and I know that because when I asked you if you had any other secrets, you blushed. _Again_." Now instead of blushing Merlin paled, but Arthur didn't notice because Merlin was still looking away from him. Arthur wasn't supposed to know about his feelings. He wouldn't understand, besides, Merlin wasn't really ready to tell him yet.

Merlin sighed. "Just keep walking." He said and then they were silent again.

Suddenly Arthur stopped and grabbed Merlin's forearm. "What?" Merlin hissed.

"Shh!" Arthur hissed back and unsheathed his sword, pointing to the bushes nearby. They were in a little valley with trees and bushes around them, and it seemed Arthur heard something, but Merlin didn't.

"What is it?" Merlin whispered as quiet as he could.

"I don't know, I heard something move over there!" Arthur whispered back. He looked at Merlin, who looked back, and then he realized he was still holding Merlin's forearm. So he let go and pushed Merlin behind him.

Then it happened. At first it looked like a strange branch, but then it moved and got much bigger. Then they both realized it was some kind of creature, and it was big and scary and it was definitely looking at them. It slowly stepped out of the bush. Both Merlin and Arthur gasped.

It was a Serket.

Its tail was at least two meters high and above its body, which had eight legs. It looked like a huge Scorpion. Then there was another one, right behind it. And another one, and another. Suddenly there was at least eight, really big, grown up Serkets, surrounding them.

"At least they're not as big as a dragon." Merlin swallowed and even in this situation Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but you could deal with a dragon, couldn't you?"

"True." Merlin whispered and instead of talking, he stepped forward and reached out his hand. " _Awendap eft wansaeliga neatu!"_ He yelled and few of the Serkets jumped away from them.

Arthur smiled. "Great, Merlin!" Then he went closer to them and cut off the tail of one of them. It screeched and fell on the ground. Then Arthur killed it, while Merlin continued.

" _Forletap me wansaeliga neatu!_ " He yelled and then again and again. Arthur looked back only once, to see if Merlin was okay, if any Serkets were behind him and also to see the gold in Merlin's eyes.

Merlin didn't look at him and continued casting the spells. Arthur turned back and after a little struggle, he managed to cut off another Serket's tail. And then another. Truthfully, Merlin's magic made it all easier because the beasts were jumping away from them and weren't able to attack. Then Arthur could strike and kill them with his sword.

" _Swelt neatu!_ " Merlin tried, but it didn't work, the spell was too weak for such big creatures. " _Awendap eft wansaeliga neatu!"_ Merlin yelled instead and as before, they jumped away from him, as if he threw fire at them.

 _Fire!_ What a great idea! Merlin took a deep breath and looked around. There was still a few Serkets left, but he didn't doubt there were many more behind the trees. " _Forbaerne! Akwele!"_ He said as he reached out his hand, and a fireball appeared in his palm. He threw it at the beast, and it squealed and died. Merlin smiled. "Success." He whispered.

"Merlin, stop enjoying yourself so much and help me!" Arthur shouted and Merlin immediately went to him and used the same spell at the last creature Arthur was fighting. It died in the next few seconds and Arthur smiled. "Finally." He said.

"Now we should really hurry if you want to sleep tonight." Merlin smiled at his prince and Arthur smiled back. Then Merlin saw it. The high tail just behind Arthur's back. His eyes widened. "Watch out!" He yelled and jumped at Arthur. The enormous sting of the Serket missed, and Merlin reached his hand just in time to send another fireball that killed that beast.

Then he sighed loudly and fell on his stomach, closing his eyes. It was an exhausting night. Arthur cleared his throat, and only then Merlin realized he was practically lying _on top of_ Arthur, on his stomach, with his head on Arthur's chest and arms around his neck. That was pretty embarrassing.

Merlin raised his head just enough that he saw into Arthur's eyes and even though he really, _really_ didn't want to, he blushed. A lot.

Arthur grinned. "See?" He said. "You're blushing again."

"So are you." Merlin replied, still looking at Arthur.

"No, I'm not!" Arthur yelped and touched his face. "Get off me," he said then and rolled over on his side, making Merlin fall beside him.

"I told you," Merlin grinned and leaned on an elbow, enjoying the view of embarrassed Arthur. "Everybody blushes." He smiled then and Arthur finally looked at him, still touching his cheeks.

"I don't." he said and stood up. "Now come on, you're going to keep watch until I wake up in the morning and believe me, I'm going to make sure I sleep a very long time." He said and started walking away.

"Okay, I can live with that." Merlin said and stood up too, running after Arthur. "But admit you blushed when I fell on you." He grinned again. He definitely fell _for_ him, but Arthur couldn't know about that.

"You didn't _fall_ on me, Merlin." Arthur argued. "You literally jumped on me and knocked me to the ground!"

"To save your life!" Merlin protested. "I do that a lot if you haven't noticed yet, and you didn't even say thank you."

Now Arthur finally turned to his servant. "Yes, I did. I remember that." He said.

"When it's in your mind, it doesn't count, I hope you know that. And I saved your life _again_ , just a minute ago." Merlin said, folding his arms on his chest.

"But I won't thank you because you almost _killed_ me by jumping on me. You almost killed the _heir to the throne._ "

"I would never kill you by jumping on you, I'm as light as Gwen. You're much heavier, you'd probably kill me if _you_ jumped at me, you're getting a little bit fat-"

" _Don't_ make me jump on you, Merlin." Arthur _growled_ , seriously considering the idea. "And I am _not fat!"_

"If you say so," Merlin shrugged. "But maybe you should take a look of yourself in the mirror sometimes."

"Those are _muscles_ Merlin, something you'll never have." Arthur replied and rolled his eyes. "Now shut up, and let's go back to Gaius and others."

Merlin opened his mouth again and wanted to say he didn't need muscles because he had magic, but then he shut it when Arthur punched him in the arm. "Ow," Merlin pouted and followed Arthur into the dark forest. He hoped the knights didn't hear them fighting with those creatures. Then Merlin shook his head. He didn't want to think about possible dangers of the future. He wanted to think about Arthur and how he made him blush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The spells from this chapter are from merlin.wikia.com  
> I hope you enjoyed it! :)


	6. I Think I Love Him

They were almost ten minutes away from their hiding place. It was still dark and, fortunately, no knights found them in the forest. They were walking mostly in silence, and Merlin wasn't sure if Arthur was still upset about the blushing. But Merlin knew what he saw, Arthur _did_ blush, he was sure of it. The prince, however, wouldn't even admit it.

Merlin sighed and Arthur looked around. "We're almost there." He smiled slightly and punched Merlin in the shoulder a bit. He didn't expect Merlin's reaction, which was a quick gasp. Arthur turned to his friend and saw that Merlin was holding his shoulder with one hand and his eyes were closed. "Merlin?" Arthur asked. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Merlin whispered through gritted teeth. "Yeah, it's alright, I'm okay, it's just-"

"The hell you are, show me." Arthur commanded, and seeing that there was no way out of this, Merlin sighed and tried to roll up his sleeve. "Merlin, I saw it's your shoulder, you won't be able to roll your sleeve all the way up." Arthur rolled his eyes.

"No, I got it. It's okay." Merlin smiled, but the sleeve got stuck above his elbow and he gasped in pain again.

"Don't be an idiot, Merlin." Arthur sighed, but was frowning. He carefully took Merlin's sleeve and rolled it back down, before he grabbed Merlin's jacket.

"Wha- Arthur? What are you doing?" Merlin asked. He really didn't want to be shirtless in front of Arthur. His _blush theory_ would just get confirmed as Merlin would surely blush.

"Shut up and take off your tunic so I can see the wound." The prince said and suddenly Merlin stepped away from him.

"You know what, I'm sure it's nothing, just a scratch, Gaius can take a look at it once we're back, we're just ten minutes away!" Merlin started mumbling, but Arthur was already standing in front of him again.

"Merlin, let me take a look to know how serious it is, and then you can tell Gaius whatever you want," Arthur said and took off Merlin's jacket. Merlin didn't protest this time, he gave up and stared into Arthur's eyes instead. "But I just need to take a look, okay?" Arthur said and finally took hold of the hem of Merlin's tunic.

Merlin sighed and closed his eyes as he lifted his arms up and Arthur carefully undressed him. The warlock didn't open his eyes until he wasn't sure whether Arthur was standing in front of him or wasn't anymore. He opened his eyes and saw Arthur staring at his bare torso.

Then he remembered. Almost two years of saving Arthur's life took its toll and left Merlin with countless scars on his body. If you looked closer, you would realize there weren't as many as you might have thought. Everyone had scars these days after all. You either fight, or die. But Arthur probably didn't expect Merlin to have any scars, definitely not the large one, right in the middle of Merlin's chest.

Nimueh.

Merlin looked down at his body and saw it. It was mostly healed, Gaius did a marvelous job. But it was still visible. And it was probably going to stay that way forever.

Merlin shifted uncomfortably under Arthur's gaze, and the prince finally cleared his throat and looked into his servant's eyes. When Merlin looked back, he saw confusion. Anger. Even _pain_. "Who did this to you?" Arthur asked, his voice very firm.

Merlin swallowed. "A powerful sorceress... " He said. "Nimueh."

"Nimueh?" Arthur asked, stepping closer to Merlin. Much closer than it was necessary. "Where is she now?" He asked then, looking on Merlin's scar.

"Nowhere, I killed her." Merlin told him. Did Arthur want to take revenge? For _him_? His servant?

"You killed her?" He asked, incredulous. He didn't expect that answer, he wanted to make her pay for what she did to his best friend.

"She wanted to kill Gaius for my mother's life for your life." Merlin tried to explain. "Um, it was the Questing Beast. I had no other choice than to go to her and ask for your life in exchange of my life, but she almost took my mother's. I didn't want my mother to die, so Gaius went to save her in exchange of his life, and then I killed her, so no one would have to die and you'd live." Merlin said then.

"Was it..." Arthur looked into Merlin's eyes. "That was when you came to my chambers to say goodbye, wasn't it?" He asked.

Merlin nodded.

"You didn't believe you'd return." Arthur murmured.

"I'm happy to be your servant till the day I die." Merlin repeated what he had said then in Arthur's chambers and smiled slightly. Arthur looked back down at Merlin's scar and slowly spread his fingers across it, feeling the damaged skin.

"Does it still hurt?" He asked, looking at Merlin. He didn't comment on Merlin's blushing this time.

"Not really, only if you hit me right into it." He answered and Arthur nodded.

"Once we're back in Camelot, safe and sound, you're gonna tell me everything about what you have done with your magic, understood?" He said.

"Yes, sire."

"It's Arthur." Arthur smiled. "And thank you." He said. "For saving my life. Countless times." And he never should have said that because then Merlin grinned like an idiot.

"See? You finally said _thank you,_ I wasn't even sure it was in your vocabulary." Merlin laughed. Arthur just rolled his eyes fondly.

"Now show me the wound." He said and Merlin showed him his shoulder. Arthur looked at it and smiled slightly. Merlin was right, it wasn't deep, it was just a scratch. "I've seen worse." Arthur said.

"So I'm not going to die?" Merlin asked hopefully.

"Don't be such a girl's petticoat, Merlin, no one would die from this." He said. "It's not even bleeding anymore, but you might consider changing your clothes once we're back in Camelot."

"It must have happened when we were attacked by the Serkets." Merlin said then.

"But I punched you right after the fight, how come you didn't say anything?" Arthur asked, rolling his chainmail up a bit.

"It must have been the other shoulder." Merlin said, looking at Arthur curiously. "What are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing, Merlin?" Arthur said as he took the hem of his shirt under the rolled up chainmail and started tearing the fabric off into a small strip. Then he rolled the chainmail back down and looked at Merlin's shoulder. "I'm making a bandage for you." He said then.

"But you've just ruined your shirt!" Merlin whined.

"Don't worry, you'll fix it later." Arthur smiled and wrapped the piece of cloth around Merlin's wound. When he was sure it was tight enough, he patted Merlin's back and unintentionally reached his hand to ruffle his dark hair before he threw his clothes at him. Then he smiled widely and started walking again.

Merlin pouted a bit before he smiled too, and carefully started putting his tunic and jacket on. Then he ran after Arthur.

xoXOXox

It was still dark night out there, and both Morgana and Gaius were sound asleep. Gwen was sitting right next to them, keeping the watch. She hoped Merlin and Arthur would return soon because she was slowly getting sleepy herself.

Gwen turned her head and looked at Morgana as the king's ward stirred in her sleep. Gwen was worried about her. What if she was having another bad dream? And now with Aredian being a threat to Morgana, it must have been worse. It was practically a miracle that she fell asleep after Merlin called her in her mind and told them about the audience.

Suddenly Morgana opened her eyes slowly and looked into the small fire in front of her. The flames were reflecting in her eyes and it looked as if she was using magic, and for a second Gwen thought she was. But it was just a simple play of light.

Morgana then sat up and smiled at her maid. "Hello, Gwen." She whispered. Gaius was still sleeping right next to her.

"How did you sleep?" Gwen asked.

"Not very well," Morgana admitted. Gwen smiled at her apologetically. "But I don't expect to fall asleep again, I'd rather stay awake until the audience tomorrow." She said and Gwen nodded.

In that moment, someone entered the cave and both Morgana and Gwen stood up, but then they relaxed as soon as they found out it was just Arthur, followed by Merlin.

"We're back!" Merlin smiled.

"Wake Gaius up," Arthur told Gwen as she went to give Merlin a hug. "Merlin's injured and we need him to take a look at it." Gwen immediately frowned, looking up at Merlin.

"What happened?" She asked.

"We got attacked... by Serkets." Merlin answered. Gwen kept frowning, but Morgana gasped. She remembered them. They stung her once and if it weren't for the druids, she would have surely died. When Merlin saw Gwen's expression, he briefly explained. "They're a giant scorpion-like creatures with venom in their sting." He said.

Gwen slowly nodded and went to wake up the physician. She gently shook his shoulder and waited until Gaius opened his eyes. "Gaius, Merlin needs your help." Gwen told him. He nodded.

"You should get some sleep, Arthur." Morgana said in the meantime.

"Since when do you care about my wellbeing?" He chuckled.

"Since I found out Merlin had to save you more times than you and I both can count, so apparently _you_ don't care enough about your wellbeing." She answered and smirked. Arthur just rolled his eyes and lay down, on the opposite side of Morgana. Gwen then lay down not far away from him, and Morgana lay down too.

Only Merlin didn't lie down, he went to Gaius, who was already looking at him worriedly. He sat down beside the physician and sighed.

"Serkets?" Gaius asked. Merlin nodded.

"But don't worry, I took care of it." He smiled slightly.

"Not without an injury." Gaius told him. Merlin finally took off his jacket and tunic and showed Gaius his shoulder.

"Arthur tried to bandage it," Merlin explained as Gaius looked at the poor bandage wrapped around Merlin's arm.

"You should teach him how to make bandages better." Gaius muttered and Merlin chuckled slightly. When Gaius carefully took off the piece of Arthur's shirt, he smiled slightly. "It's not that bad," he said. "It's not even infected, it should get healed soon."

"Thanks, Gaius." Merlin smiled at him and the old physician put the bandage back around Merlin's arm. It wasn't the best bandage, but it still served the purpose, and they didn't have anything better, unless they wanted to ruin another tunic, which Merlin definitely _didn't_ want to since it would probably be his own.

"You should get some rest, boy." Gaius said and put his hand on Merlin's other shoulder.

"No, no, I'm keeping the watch." Merlin hurriedly said. "I slept the longest time before we had to go back to Camelot, so I can wait until the morning and watch out for all of you. Besides, I have the strongest magic here." Merlin grinned.

"Don't let that go to that head of yours." Gaius smiled.

Merlin returned the smile and then he glanced around the cave. Morgana and Gwen were already sleeping, and when he looked at Arthur, he found out the prince was asleep as well. He was lying on his side with his arms folded on his chest, and he was snoring slightly. His golden hair was falling over his forehead so endearingly that Merlin had to smile.

"You should be honest with him Merlin," Gaius suddenly whispered. Merlin looked at him with a well-trained expression of _what?_ "You should finally tell him about your feelings for him." Gaius explained, smiling slightly.

Merlin's eyes widened and he turned bright red as he stared back at his mentor in disbelief. "Wh- what?" He swallowed. "H-how do you know?" He asked then.

"You're like the son I never had," Gaius smiled at him fondly.

"I know, you're like my father I never got to know." Merlin said, still looking at Gaius. How did he know? Was it really that obvious?

Gaius then looked at the sleeping prince and back at Merlin. "I know you, Merlin." He said then. "And I know how you look at him." Merlin blushed even deeper. "As if he was the only thing that makes you keep going every day." Merlin looked down and started playing with his fingers awkwardly. "It's in your every move, every decision and every smile." Gaius said then and squeezed Merlin's good shoulder.

"I... " Merlin didn't know what to say. He and Gaius have never had such conversation, about his feelings for another person. "I wish I could tell him." Merlin sighed then and looked down, back at his hands.

"One day, you will, Merlin." Gaius said.

"But how do you know?" Merlin asked him, looking up. "How can you know he wouldn't be angry? That he wouldn't think that what I feel... " Merlin stopped for a few seconds and looked into Gaius' eyes. "... is _wrong_?"

"Love is never wrong, Merlin, remember that." Gaius told him. "And I know Arthur just as I know you. Believe me when I say he does care about you."

"But how can I know he loves me back?"

"Do you love him?" Gaius asked, raising his eyebrows. Merlin looked down, ashamed a little. He might love him. He thought it was just a crush, but everybody gets crushes and everybody blushes. And what if it wasn't just a crush anymore? What if he truly was in love with the prince? It wouldn't be out of the question, he spent his every day with Arthur after all. So it was possible... If he just could know for sure.

"I don't know," Merlin admitted. "I might love him." He said then. "I think I do love him, Gaius." Merlin looked up.

When Gaius saw the tears in his ward's eyes, he pulled him closer and wrapped his arms around the boy carefully. "Listen to me, Merlin." Gaius said into his ear. "Do not ever be ashamed of how you feel." He said.

Merlin nodded against his mentor's shoulder and slowly pulled away. He sat back down and looked at Arthur again. Then he looked back at Gaius and slowly nodded. "I love him." He said then, and this time he didn't want to cry. This time he smiled.

Though it might seem so, Morgana wasn't sleeping. She couldn't fall back asleep after Merlin and Arthur came back, and she didn't even want to. She was just lying on the hard stone ground with her eyes closed, and she listened to Merlin's and Gaius' quiet talk.

After a while she realized what they were discussing, and she couldn't believe her ears at first. But then, it did make sense. She could have guessed sooner that the friendship between Merlin and Arthur wasn't just friendship. She could have guessed that the young warlock, her good friend, was in love with Arthur.

She wasn't even shocked, it just seemed... obvious after she heard it from Merlin himself. And then, when she heard the quiet and happy _I love him_ from Merlin, she couldn't help but smile widely.

xoXOXox

It was almost three hours later and the sun was beginning to rise, when Arthur woke up. He yawned and slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes. He needed this sleep, he didn't sleep at all since they saved Gaius. And even though he didn't sleep longer than three hours, he felt much better.

He smiled and stretched himself as he stood up. He looked around and saw that Morgana was fully awake. He smiled at her and she smiled back. He looked at Gwen. She was asleep. And so was Gaius and... _Merlin._

Arthur rolled his eyes. "That idiot must have fallen asleep," he groaned. Morgana chuckled slightly as she looked at Arthur. "What?" He asked.

"Nothing," Morgana smiled innocently. _Nothing, it's just that I know a certain manservant is in love with you._

Arthur raised his eyebrows, but didn't ask anything else. He sighed then and went to Merlin. The boy was leaning against the wall of the cave behind him, and was snoring softly, with his chin resting on his chest and arms folded.

" _Mer_ lin." Arthur said. Merlin didn't respond. "Merlin!" He said again and kicked his servant's leg.

"Ow!" Merlin finally opened his eyes and looked up, disoriented. "Arthur? Wha-"

"You fell asleep, you idiot!" Arthur told him. Merlin just narrowed his eyes and looked around. Then he looked down and realized he was leaning against the wall.

"I.. I didn't..."

"You fell asleep, and no one was keeping watch!" Arthur said then. Gaius woke up and Gwen too when they heard them.

"Arthur," Morgana went to him. "It's alright," she said and Arthur looked at her. "I couldn't fall asleep, so I was keeping watch instead of him." She smiled at Merlin as he looked up at her.

"Alright." Arthur said. "Thanks." He added.

"Yeah, thanks, Morgana." Merlin smiled at her. Arthur turned to him and frowned again.

"Make yourself useful, Merlin." He said. "Go prepare the horses, we'll have to go back to Camelot soon."

"We have only three horses." Morgana said.

"Yes," Arthur confirmed. "Only me, Merlin and Gwen are going." When everyone looked at him, he explained. "Morgana and Gaius already are suspects. Aredian wants to make Uther believe you both have magic, and so we have to show him the proof Aredian is lying first." He said.

"But Aredian said I have magic, too." Merlin pointed out. Arthur looked at him.

"Yes, but then Gaius took your place." He said. "Besides, I need your help if we see the Serkets again." He added and Merlin smiled a bit.

"You need my help, huh?" He smirked, making Arthur roll his eyes again.

"Don't look so pleased, Merlin," he said. "I'm sure I can defeat them on my own, I'm taking you just to take care of Guinevere if we really have to fight the Serkets again."

"Sure, you are." Merlin rolled his eyes.

"Shut up," Arthur said as Merlin turned to leave to prepare the horses. Gaius and Morgana both smiled when they heard the pair arguing. They were just like an old married couple and didn't even know about it. It would be a shame if Arthur didn't feel the same way about Merlin. But Gaius was sure the prince did. Even if he might not be aware of it yet, he loved Merlin. In some way.

Both Morgana and Gwen then went outside to Merlin. Morgana wanted to say goodbye to her friends, and to wish them good luck.

Arthur found himself alone with Gaius. "Arthur?" The physician said just as Arthur wanted to leave.

Gaius made an attempt to stand up, so Arthur helped him. "Thank you." Gaius told him.

"Nothing to thank me for, Gaius." Arthur smiled.

"There is," the old man disagreed. Then he smiled. "I haven't had the chance to thank you for saving Merlin yet." He said. "So thank you for taking him out of the courtyard and hiding him in the woods. And for accepting his magic." Gaius added.

"You really don't need to thank me, Gaius." Arthur repeated. "You see, at first when I saw Merlin's eyes and realized he had magic..." Arthur paused. "I hesitated. In that moment, I didn't know what to do, I felt... betrayed." Arthur stared blankly in front of him. "But then, in the next second... I just didn't care anymore." He looked back into Gaius' eyes. "I knew I had to do something because if I didn't, Merlin would get executed. So I ran to him, and... and saved him... I couldn't have just left him there, Gaius." Arthur confessed. "I couldn't."

Gaius smiled at him and nodded. "I know." He said and then left. Arthur stood there a few seconds longer, thinking about what he just said to Gaius. It was all true, he couldn't leave Merlin behind. He would never be able to live with himself if he knew he had left his best friend to die. Merlin somehow managed to make himself a great part of Arthur's life. If not the biggest. And if Arthur was being completely honest, he didn't mind in the slightest.

Finally, Arthur left the small cave and joined his friends outside. Gaius was just about to give Merlin a hug and a pat on his back. Arthur smiled to himself. Then he said goodbye to Morgana and finally mounted his horse, alongside Merlin, who smiled at him and nodded, and alongside Gwen, who smiled at him, too.

Then they urged the horses to go, and left their only hiding place, getting ready to face Camelot and Arthur's father with the Witchfinder.

xoXOXox

Merlin, Arthur and Gwen had just left, and Morgana went back to the cave. She started the fire again and sat on the opposite side of Gaius. After two minutes of silence, she couldn't help but ask.

"Gaius?" She asked. Suddenly her voice was so weak.

"Yes, my lady?" He asked, looking at her. Morgana bit her lower lip nervously and finally asked.

"Why didn't you want to help me when I told you I thought I had magic?" She asked. It was bothering her for a long time, and she hasn't asked yet.

He sighed. "Morgana, it's not just that you have magic." He said and looked at her. "Your dreams... they sometimes come true, don't they?" He asked.

"So it's true?" She asked.

"Some people are able to see visions of the future in their dreams." Gaius continued. "These people are called the seers."

"So am I a seer?" Morgana asked.

"I think so, yes." Gaius nodded. "When you told me about the fire in your chambers, I knew it was magic. But I didn't want to tell you because I didn't know what Uther would do if he ever found out." Gaius sighed again. "I told Merlin to stay out of it, but does the boy ever listen?"

"No, I don't think so," Morgana laughed.

"I'm glad he helped you though. It's a shame it destroyed a whole druid village, but..." Gaius paused. "I'm just glad Merlin and the druids helped you understand what is magic about and that you shouldn't be afraid of it." Gaius smiled.

"Thank you, they both helped me." Morgana smiled.

"You know, one day, Arthur will be king. And now when he knows about both yours and Merlin's magic, he's going to change... he already has. From the moment he met Merlin." Gaius smiled to himself and Morgana smiled, too. She knew exactly what he meant, but she didn't say anything about it. "And once he is a king," Gaius continued. "After more than twenty years, magic will be legalized again." He smiled. "I believe in him, and so does Merlin. Arthur just has to believe in himself. And with Merlin by his side... I know he will. He will be a great king."

"Do you really believe this?" Morgana asked.

"Yes," Gaius answered. "And so does Merlin." He added. "Just remember one thing, Morgana." He looked at her. "Magic isn't good, nor bad. It's a _power_. There is no evil in sorcery, only in the hearts of men." He said. "Please, use it for good."

"I will."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it :) Let me know what you think! :D


	7. All Problems Solved But One

The throne room was cold and empty. Only the king, Uther Pendragon, was sitting on his throne, his fist supporting his chin, with a tired and sad expression on his face. He almost killed his best friend and then he lost his only two children. Even though Arthur was the cause of Ygraine's death, he still loved his son dearly and with all his heart, as every father should. He never talked about Arthur's mother, though. It hurt too much.

And he never told Morgana that Gorlois wasn't her real father. He, the king Uther Pendragon, was. Morgana was his daughter. She was the rightful heir to the throne if Arthur died. Blood of Pendragons was flowing through her veins and she didn't even know.

The king sighed and closed his eyes, the crown too heavy on his head all of a sudden. All he had to do was wait for someone to return with a message or at least an inkling to where Arthur and Morgana could have gone. And the waiting was killing him.

Suddenly the huge doors opened and the king raised his head. It was his most loyal knight, Sir Leon, with his searching party. He bowed his head and clasped his hands together behind his back.

"My lord," he started and looked up. "I'm afraid we didn't find your son, sire. Nor lady Morgana." The knight said and took a tiny step back. Everybody feared the wrath of Uther Pendragon.

"Are you telling me that even the best knights of Camelot couldn't find one man and woman?" Uther said and stood up.

Leon looked down again. "I'm sorry, my lord, we've been tryin-"

"I don't care that you've been useless so far!" Uther yelled. "Bring me my son and my ward back! Don't return until you find them!" He said and waved his hand. "You're dismissed."

Leon bowed his head again and turned around with all the knights to leave. But then the doors opened once again, and this time it wasn't a searching party who came it.

It was _Arthur_.

And Merlin with Gwen, right behind him.

"Arthur?" Uther said and took a step forward.

"It's me, father." Arthur smiled and the king immediately went to his son to give him a short hug. He smiled as Arthur hugged him back and then he pulled away, keeping his hand on his son's shoulder.

"What happened? Where have you been?" Uther asked. "I sent searching parties after you and Morgana, but they didn't find anything." He said. Then he looked around and saw Merlin and Gwen, standing there and smiling. The king's smile faded. "Guards," he said and pointed at the servant and maid. "Seize them." He ordered.

Arthur turned around quickly. "No, no, father, it's alright!" He said hurriedly. "It's not their fault, they're innocent!" He tried to explain, but the guards were already holding Merlin and Gwen.

"They kidnapped you and freed a sorcerer!" Uther said, looking at Merlin and Gwen with hatred in his eyes. "Aredian was right, the boy is a sorcerer." He said.

"No, father!" Arthur yelled. "It's all just a misunderstanding, I was not kidnapped!" He said and for the first time it seemed the king was listening as he looked straight at Arthur.

"Then what happened?" He asked him.

"Um, I... I went for a hunt!" Arthur lied. He forgot to prepare for this. "And after Gaius disappeared, I just had to go clear my head, so I went for a hunt and took Merlin and Gwen with me, and I'm sorry I didn't say anything, but I needed to... to be alone. Just for one night." He said. God, even Merlin could lie better, and Arthur actually believed him and thought he was just an idiot. But maybe his father will believe him.

Uther narrowed his eyes and looked at Arthur and then at Gwen with Merlin, who didn't even dare to move. "Is this true?" He asked, looking at Merlin.

Merlin started nodding immediately, maybe even too quickly. "Yes, my lord." He answered. "We went hunting and then we camped in the woods, and-"

"Arthur?" Uther rolled his eyes. He didn't have to listen to that Arthur's simpleton with a mental affliction.

"It's true," Arthur said, looking into his father's eyes. "I swear."

"Alright," Uther looked at Leon and two other knights, who were holding Merlin and Gwen. "Let them go." He ordered. The knights obeyed.

"You," Uther then pointed at Gwen.

"Yes, my lord?" She bowed, scared of what the king wanted to say or do.

"Is it true that you saw Morgana performing magic?" He asked. Gwen frowned and looked at her king.

"No, my lord." She said. "I haven't seen anything, lady Morgana doesn't have magic." She said. Why did he ask?

"So Aredian lied." Uther said.

"That's why we're here." Merlin said then and Uther looked at him. After he nodded, Merlin continued. "We have a proof that Gaius is innocent." He said.

"That's true, father." Arthur said. "We wish to have an audience with you." He continued then. "We have a witness."

"Very well." He nodded. "I'll make an audience, but where is Morgana?" He asked then, looking around the throne room.

"I don't know." Arthur answered, looking at his father. "I thought she was in the castle, with you." He added.

"She was, but then someone kidnapped her, yesterday before midnight." He told his son. "We have to find her."

"I'll go looking for her." Arthur said. "But first we need to have the audience. Aredian's behind all of this, he's been lying to us since the very beginning."

Uther wasn't sure what to believe anymore, so he just nodded. "Bring me your witness." He said. "And the Witchfinder!" Arthur went to Leon and told him their witness' name. Then Leon and all the other knights left the room, leaving Merlin with Gwen and Arthur with Uther alone in the big cold throne room.

xoXOXox

Not even twenty minutes later, the doors opened again and Aredian entered the room. He bowed and suspiciously looked at Arthur and the two servants, standing in the corner of the room. Then he went straight to the king, and stopped when he was next to him, waiting for whoever was supposed to enter the throne room next.

The knights went in with all of Aredian's witnesses. The three girls looked around the room, and bowed in front of their king. Then the seller bowed as well, and went closer to Uther. Arthur stood next to him and Merlin reached to his pocket, where he had the Belladonna flower petals. They needed proof and they had one. Merlin even prepared some extra help in Aredian's chambers.

Once everyone was in their right places and it was quiet, Uther looked at Merlin and nodded. "Speak." He said.

"Sire," Merlin started. "The witnesses saw nothing but hallucinations," he looked at Aredian, who dangerously looked back. Merlin swallowed and continued. "Induced by the Belladonna and these eye drops." He said and looked at the seller. He gave him the eye drops and Merlin handed them to Uther.

"And you bought this Belladonna from this man?" The king asked and looked at the three girls. They all nodded and Merlin smiled a bit. They were right! "Where did you get it from?" Uther asked then and looked at the seller.

The man looked around the room hesitantly and Uther said, "don't be afraid. No harm will come to you here."

"The witchfinder," the man finally admitted and Merlin looked at Uther and then at Aredian. "He gave them to me," the man continued.

"Did he tell you what it was for?" Uther asked.

"No." Was the answer. "Only that if I did not sell it, he'd have me burnt at the stake."

Uther turned to Aredian. "How do you answer to these accusations?"

"They are absurd." The witchfinder simply said, looked at Uther and then at Merlin again. "The boy has clearly concocted these lies in the hope of saving his master."

"Then you won't mind if we search your chambers." Merlin said.

"Silence!" Uther yelled at him as Arthur rolled his eyes at Merlin's stupidity. "You have no authority here!"

"Father," Arthur said and went to his servant. "Let's settle this once and for all. If what Merlin, Gwen and I say is wrong, then we must bear the consequences." He said and looked Merlin in the eye. Merlin looked back and then they both looked at their king. "But if there is some truth in what we say..."

"I have nothing to hide." Aredian said then.

Merlin and Arthur smiled and looked at each other. This plan was going to work and they were finally going to save Gaius. Merlin looked at Aredian then and noticed that he seemed a bit nervous, after they left the throne room.

The closer they were to his chambers, the more nervous he looked, but he evidently tried to look completely normal. He said he had nothing to hide after all. If only he knew what had Merlin prepared for him in his little cupboard.

Merlin chuckled slightly and Arthur looked at him, but he just shrugged and smiled at him. Arthur smiled back and then they finally reached the door to Aredian's chambers.

The knights went in, and immediately started searching through his things. Just like Merlin and Arthur did a few hours ago, only a little louder. They searched everywhere. Behind the curtain, under the bed, through his books...

"You're wasting your time," Aredian said, but it was pointless.

"the cupboard over there." Arthur told one of the knights and pointed to the cupboard where he and Merlin found the Belladonna earlier. Merlin smirked, knowing what would come next.

And then it happened. As soon as the knight opened the cupboard, he had to step aside because it was full of magical bracelets. There were dozens of them, all falling on the floor from the little cupboard.

Both Uther's and Aredian's eyes widened, but that wasn't everything yet. Under the bracelets was so many bottles of Belladonna eye drops, that it almost made you wonder how exactly did it all fit in there.

"These things don't belong to me!" Aredian hurriedly said and went to the cupboard. "This is a trick!" He said as he kicked the bracelets on the floor. Then he started coughing and Merlin reached his hand to tug at Arthur's sleeve. Arthur looked at him and Merlin nodded in Aredian's direction. Arthur frowned a little and looked at the Witchfinder, then he unsheathed his sword.

"The boy plots against me!" Aredian yelled, but the coughing worsened and stopped him. He gripped his chair tight and bowed, coughing violently. Everybody took a step back, and then Aredian's mouth opened.

Something green appeared there and it jumped out of his mouth. It was a toad and it croaked as soon as it touched the floor. Aredian covered his mouth with his hand, stepping back.

"Sorcerer!" Uther said and finally unsheathed his sword, pointing it at Aredian. But the witchfinder quickly took a dagger he had on his belt and pointed it at Arthur. He moved his hand behind his head, apparently wanting to throw it at the prince. Merlin quickly mumbled something under his breath, and a little vase shifted on the floor, right behind Aredian's feet.

He fell over before he managed to throw the dagger and fell out of the window. All they heard was the noise of his body as it hit the ground below.

As soon as it happened, Arthur threw his hands around Merlin and pulled him as close as possible. He completely forgot about his father and the knights around him and even that he wasn't supposed to show his feelings to anyone, even to Merlin. He himself wasn't sure what he was feeling yet, but he had an inkling. And when Merlin returned the hug, smiling from ear to ear, he was almost sure that this was supposed to be _their_ moment because hell, they _saved_ Gaius and he was happy!

"Arthur!" His father said and Arthur immediately snapped back to reality. What the hell just happened?

"Yes, father?" He asked. He shouldn't have hugged Merlin in front of so many people. Even Gwen. Yes, the whole Camelot knew they were close, but Merlin was still just a servant. He just hoped Uther would choose to ignore it, given the circumstances.

"Go, find Morgana and Gaius and bring them back to Camelot." Uther said, and Arthur nodded and sighed in relief. That was until his father looked at Merlin dangerously.

"I will," Arthur hurriedly said so his father looked at him instead of his friend. Then Arthur looked at Merlin and Gwen, and they all left Aredian's former chambers.

"Okay. Merlin?" Arthur turned to his servant, who was still smiling for some unknown reason. "Go prepare the horses, we'll set off immediately." Merlin nodded and ran away, down the stairs to the stables.

"I'll go to Morgana's chambers to prepare it for her return." Gwen smiled at Arthur and he smiled back and nodded. Then she left, and Arthur found himself alone in the hall. He looked after Gwen as she disappeared around the corner and bowed his head. He knew how did he feel about Gwen. He knew he loved her, but had he really a chance with her? He knew she was in love with Lancelot. And even though Lancelot left, it didn't mean he wouldn't come back.

And he knew he felt something for Merlin, too. But was it really... _love?_ Was it stronger than what he felt for Gwen? He knew what he felt when he hugged Merlin a few minutes ago. He really didn't know why it happened, but it felt nice.

When he hugged Merlin... all the problems seemed to disappear. As if Merlin somehow made him feel whole, complete. And he didn't know if he would be able to live like this, without holding Merlin in his arms. One thing he knew for sure. He couldn't stay just friends with him.

What he felt... it was somehow stronger than everything in the world. And he couldn't ignore it anymore, he just couldn't. But should he tell Merlin about this? Should he tell him or wait until he was absolutely sure that what he felt was... romantic? He's never thought about this, but what if it was romantic? How did he feel about... kissing Merlin?

Did it feel alright, or disgusting, or like the best idea in the world? Arthur didn't know. But he knew one thing. He'll have the entire ride back to Morgana and Gaius to think about it, and Merlin will be right next to him. He wouldn't tell him anything about this of course, but he'll be able to think about it.

Arthur shook his head and finally started walking down the hall, to the stables. He knew Merlin would be already waiting for him there, and to be honest, he couldn't wait to see his face again. Even those few minutes without him felt like hours.

As soon as he went to the courtyard, he saw Merlin patting one of the horses. He was smiling, touching the horse's hair and the way the sun shone on Merlin's dark hair, making his eyes sparkle made Arthur shiver.

He cleared his throat and was rewarded with the world's most beautiful smile. He smiled back and went to his servant, unconsciously putting his hand on his shoulder. "Ready?" He asked and Merlin nodded.

"Ready," he answered.

"Then let's go." Arthur smiled and mounted his horse, waiting for Merlin to do the same before he turned towards the gates and urged his horse to move.

They galloped quickly until they were in the forest. Then they slowed down because they knew exactly where Morgana with Gaius were, and they couldn't just return so soon with them when the searching party looked for them since yesterday and found nothing.

The slow ride made Arthur realize how quiet it was out there. He looked at Merlin, the usual source of all pointless talking, and found out the boy was looking at the trees around them and at the sun's rays shining through the leaves, with a smile on his face. Did Merlin really enjoy nature so much?

"You look like an idiot." Arthur commented and looked away. Merlin didn't even look at Arthur as he answered.

"You look much worse, and do I complain? No." He smirked. Arthur laughed.

"Yes, you do, Merlin. You complain all the time, mostly about _everything_." He said, smiling.

"Okay, then why did you hug me?" He asked, finally looking at Arthur, smirking. Arthur glanced at him.

"So you complain about it?" Arthur asked.

"Um, n-no, I just, no," Merlin stuttered and blushed, making Arthur laughed. He knew this would happen. "Then w-why did you, huh?" Merlin asked again.

Arthur just shrugged. "I didn't." He answered and sped up.

"But- but Arthur!" Merlin sped up too, and rode after Arthur. The prince could be unbelievably annoying sometimes. But that didn't matter. Arthur hugged Merlin and Merlin was glad he did. He loved hugging Arthur, he felt safe in his arms. But he also knew that when Arthur hugged someone, it was very rare. Almost impossible.

And knowing that Merlin was one of those few lucky people (or maybe the only one) who got to know what was hugging Arthur like, made him feel very happy and _special_.

"Well, at least we saved Gaius." Merlin smiled as he finally rode next to Arthur again. The prince just nodded. "Can you hug me again?" Merlin teased.

" _Mer_ lin," Arthur warned, but there was something about the way he said it that made Merlin doubt Arthur was serious. Maybe he wanted another hug, too? "And what about the bracelets, hm?" Arthur asked then.

"Um, as I said. I just made sure our plan was worth it." Merlin answered.

"And the toad?" Arthur laughed. "Honestly that was a step too far, Merlin." He said, but Merlin just laughed.

"I know, I know, but at least it worked!"

"I don't know, Merlin." Arthur said. "If every time we're in danger you solve things like that, I can't believe I'm still alive." He laughed.

"Well, you should believe it." Merlin smiled. "Just... don't die any time soon, okay?" Merlin suddenly changed the expression and everything was more serious. Arthur noticed this just from the tone Merlin used. He looked at the young warlock and frowned slightly.

"Do you... do you really care so much?" Arthur asked. And this time he wanted Merlin to be honest. The warlock looked at Arthur and nodded.

"I do." He answered. And then he went silent.

That made Arthur think about a lot of things. If Merlin truly cared so much about him, was the romantic relationship between them possible? Did Merlin mean all of this just in a friendly way, or did he mean something more?

Arthur shook his head and looked over at Merlin again. He knew that even if Merlin didn't feel the same way, he would never be able to find anyone in this world who would make him feel the same way as Merlin did. Every time he looked at him, the world was brighter and life was happier. And there was no one, not even Gwen, who would be able to replace Merlin and make Arthur feel that way. No one on this whole Earth.

After two hours, they finally made it to the cave. They dismounted and went straight to Morgana and Gaius. They were still inside, both sitting by the fire, talking about something funny, judging by the fact they were both laughing.

"What's so funny?" Merlin asked as he approached them.

"Oh, nothing." Morgana laughed as she looked at Merlin. "Gaius was just telling me about your very tragic _magic failures._ " Morgana said and Merlin turned red as everyone started laughing.

"Gaius!" Merlin hissed. "No one was supposed to know about that!" He complained as Morgana laughed again.

"You never told me it was a secret!" Gaius said. "Besides, Morgana already knows about your magic." He smiled and Merlin rubbed his eyes, looking down, embarrassed.

" _Unbelievable_." He mumbled.

Arthur smiled and looked at Gaius. "Gaius, good news!" He said. "You and Morgana can both return to Camelot, Aredian's dead." He said.

"That's amazing!" Morgana said and gave Gaius a hug. Then she went over to Merlin and Arthur and hugged them both at the same time, putting her arms around their necks. "Thank you!" She smiled as she purposely made them stand closer to each other.

Then she let them go, smiling at them and at Gaius. Merlin and Arthur stepped away from each other a bit, both clearing their throats at the same time. How many awkward moments will they have to suffer through until they both realize they're supposed to be together? It's _two sides of the same coin_ for a reason, Jesus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the last sentence XD I just want them to be together, and don't worry, it'll all happen in the next chapter, which is the last chapter of this story! :)  
> I hope you liked it! :)


	8. The Final Secret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So this is the last chapter of this story, it's a bit shorter than all previous chapters, but I hope you'll enjoy it nevertheless. Thanks for reading this story and I hope you'll be satisfied with the ending! ;)

Uther immediately stood up and ran towards his ward after she opened the door to the throne room and smiled at him. She ran into his arms and hugged him as if he was her real father, unaware of the fact that he was her real father indeed. She smiled as she laid her head on his shoulder, and he put his hand on her hair, happy that she was back.

"I'm so sorry I didn't protect you," he whispered. Morgana pulled away and smiled up at him.

"You don't have to feel sorry," she whispered. "It was Aredian who took me. He kept me somewhere in dark, I think it was a cave." She said.

Only now did Uther notice his son, standing next to exhausted Gaius. He ignored them, though.

"Was there Gaius too?" He asked and Morgana nodded.

"Yes," she said. "He imprisoned us both. He said he wanted us to die and a-and-" Morgana faked a little sob and Uther immediately embraced her again.

"I'm sorry this happened to you." He whispered. "I knew you couldn't have magic. You, of all people, would never betray me." He said and Morgana stiffened a bit, but then she relaxed again. She couldn't let Uther know that she and Gaius both had magic and what about Merlin? He helped her and she couldn't betray his trust. And Uther would surely punish Arthur too, he knew about all of them having magic after all. She had no choice but to lie.

"But I don't understand one thing," Uther said and pulled away. "Why would Aredian free Gaius, he was already standing on the stake." He said, but he didn't notice that Gaius looked down.

"Who could understand?" Arthur said, going closer to his father. "He was a lunatic _and_ a sorcerer, he just probably wanted him to suffer more."

Uther nodded and then looked at the guards. "Find lady Morgana's maidservant and send her here." He told them and then turned to Morgana. "You should return to your chambers with her and rest." He said, putting his hand on her cheek. "You deserve that." Morgana smiled and nodded. Then she went to the door, but stopped when Uther spoke again. "Arthur, go with Morgana, I need a moment with Gaius." He said. Arthur nodded and they both left the throne room.

Gaius took a step forward and bowed slightly. Uther looked at him and frowned. Gaius looked so exhausted! He still wore the white robe that he spent last few days in, and it wasn't even white anymore. It was dirty from wherever he had to spend last night with Morgana.

Uther bowed his head and went to his old friend closer. "Gaius," he started. "I'm glad you're back."

"As am I, my lord."Gaius answered. He had a sad expression on his face and Uther noticed. He knew why was Gaius sad. He almost executed him. His friend. "I thought I would never see this place again." Gaius added.

Uther nodded. "If anything was damaged in the search in your chambers, I will be only too glad to replace it." He said.

"You're very kind, my lord." Gaius answered.

"Aredian... I can still scarcely believe that he was a sorcerer." Uther shook his head and looked down.

"Indeed." Gaius said. "Was there some reason you wished to talk to me?" He asked then.

"Yes, I..." Uther looked at him. "I wanted to say, I'm sorry if you suffered at his hands."

"But I did not suffer at his hands, Uther." Gaius suddenly said and looked at the king. Uther was looking back as Gaius stepped closer. "I suffered at yours." He said. "He worked for you. He was merely following your orders."

"But I was deceived-"

"No," Gaius interrupted him. "You were deceived long before Aredian, for you deceived yourself. You see foes where there are friends, you see sorcerers where there are but servants. I am not the first to be wrongly accused in your war against magic. And not all have been as lucky as I."

"I assure you, Gaius, every measure will be taken to ensure that nothing like this will happen again." Uther said. It wasn't about a king and his physician, now it was about two old friends and betrayal.

"I hope that is true." Gaius answered and looked at Uther. "For all our sakes." Then he looked down and took a step back. "Now if I may leave, sir, I have some work to do." Gaius said and bowed.

Uther nodded and Gaius turned around, finally leaving the throne room. Uther sighed and sat back down on his throne. He was well aware that he had disappointed and maybe lost his best friend. But he didn't know what else to do to gain his trust once again.

When Gaius closed the door and went outside the throne room, there were Morgana and Arthur waiting for him. Morgana smiled. "I can help you get back to your chambers if you want," she offered, but Gaius just smiled.

"I'm old and tired, but I can get home on my own, thank you." He said. "You both should get some rest." He nodded and turned around. The citizens already knew he was innocent so he didn't have to be afraid of any unpleasant encounters, and his quarters were close.

"Um, Gaius?" Arthur called his name and the physician looked at him. "I'm sorry, but can I ask you something?" Gaius nodded and Arthur swallowed. "Merlin was always behaving so... strangely when he was around me, and he didn't want to tell me what was wrong. But I know he has one more secret. Don't you-" he cleared his throat. "Don't you know what it is? I know you're close."

Gaius smiled at him as if he knew something no one else did. Then he looked at Arthur and said, "I'm sorry Arthur. I know what this secret is, but it really isn't my place to tell."

"No, it's alright," Arthur smiled. "I understand." Then Gaius finally turned around and went down the stairs towards the courtyard.

Arthur put his hands on his hips and sighed. Then he heard a silent laugh and looked up. Morgana was looking at him, smirking. "What?" He asked. "Do I have something on my face?" He asked, but Morgana just laughed again.

"You're really dumb, you know that?" She smiled and went to her step-brother to give him a hug. He hugged her back and then she whispered in his ear. "You and Merlin are both dumb." She said.

Arthur pulled away. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"His last secret." She smirked and Arthur leaned closer, eager to finally find out what was Merlin hiding. Morgana smiled and whispered. "He's in love with you."

_He's in love with you._

It took a while until those words finally sank in and Arthur realized what had Morgana just told him. "He... h-he... he loves m-me?" He stuttered.

"Yes!" Morgana laughed and grinned at him. Suddenly everything started to make sense - all the blushing, light touches on his shoulder, how was Merlin always so close to him and believed in him... Merlin was _in love_ with him! "Come on!" Morgana said and Arthur looked at her, still hazy from that information. "Go to him." She smiled and gestured with her hand towards Arthur's chambers.

He stood there as if struck by some invisible force that made him too numb to move, but in the next few seconds he smiled and started nodding, slowly turning around and walking, no, _running_ towards his chambers.

He barely heard Morgana giggle behind him because he was already turning to the next hall, running to meet his servant. He knew Merlin was in his chambers, tidying or whatever he was doing, and he knew that he loved him too, _with all his heart._

All he wished for was to go there and see Merlin's smile after he would tell him about his feelings.

When he finally reached the door, he opened it, startling Merlin. The servant was standing next to Arthur's bed, adjusting the corners of his bed covers, but when he saw Arthur practically storm into his own chambers, he looked up and raised his eyebrows, just like Gaius always did.

He looked at Arthur, standing there and breathing heavily from the running. "Arthur?" He said, hesitantly. "Are you alright?"

But there was no time to answer because Arthur ran to him, grabbed Merlin's face and smiled, finally pressing his lips against Merlin's. Merlin moaned, more with confusion and surprise than with pleasure, but soon he melted into the kiss and dropped everything he was holding to put his arms around Arthur's neck.

Arthur ran his fingers through Merlin's dark hair, deepening the kiss, making Merlin moan again and again. This was what he was waiting for. Now he knew how he felt about kissing Merlin. It was fantastic!

He leaned against Merlin with his whole body, making his servant- no, wait – his new _boyfriend,_ fall into his soft bed. Merlin was now right where Arthur wanted him - trapped underneath him as he kept kissing him, smiling into the kiss.

After who knows how long, Arthur finally pulled away, breathing heavily and looking deep into Merlin's ocean blue eyes. He smiled when Merlin smiled up at him.

"I love you too, my idiot." Arthur whispered and kissed Merlin again. They were destiny after all. Two sides of the same coin. Two idiot boys who fell in love and were too dumb to realize it without the help of others. Not a prince and his servant.

Just Merlin and Arthur.

*The End*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.... what did you think? :)


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